5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Stars

John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (7-5-2) are home on Sunday to take on Peter DeBoer's Dallas Stars (8-5-1) for their Military Appreciation Game presented by Toyota. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 1:00 p.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the first of two meetings this season between the inter-conference teams. The Flyers and Stars will rematch at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on April 6.
The Flyers, who lost 4-1 to the visiting Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon, are playing for the third time in less than four nights. Philadelphia comes into this game having lost back-to-back regulation decisions for the first time this season.
The Stars, likewise, lost each of their two previous games in regulation. Following a 5-1 road setback on Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets, the Stars lost on home ice, 5-4, to the San Jose Sharks on Friday.
Here are five things to watch in this game.
1. "You can't play against two opponents"
For much of the dozen games of the season, the Flyers were stealing wins in games where they were widely outshot and outchanced but their goaltending and timely offense enabled the club to come away with points. The tables have turned in the last two games.
In the games against Columbus and Ottawa, the Flyers had superior puck possession and a healthy array of high-danger scoring chances created. They've run into back-to-back games where Hart played at an average level and was somewhat outdueled, respectively, by Joonas Korpisalo and Cam Talbot.
The bigger issue: the Flyers ended up being their own worst enemies in both games. In Columbus, the Flyers were guilty of a series of egregious turnovers on low-percentage pass attempts in dangerous areas of the ice. Against Ottawa, the Flyers turned an eminently winnable 1-1 game until a multi-goal deficit due to a series of undisciplined penalties and two failed kills on three Senators power plays.
"I attribute it to you can't win in the National Hockey League if you've got to play against two opponents. That's the opponent themselves and us. We did so many good things, but then we self-imploded with the penalties. Just unnecessary penalties. You can't do it," Tortorella said.
The Flyers had ranked fourth in the NHL in penalty killing percentage entering Saturday's game. Following yesterday's 1-for-3 outcome, it's important to get right back on the horse against Dallas.
2. TK on a tear.
Travis Konecny has been the Flyers' most consistent offensive threat by far through the season's first 14 games. He leads the team in all three primary offensive categories: total points (16), goals (five) and assists (11). Konecny is also tops in shots on goal (44), multi-point games (six) and games in which he's recorded at least one point (10 of 14). The right winger brings an active five-game point streak (1g, 6a) into Sunday's game against the Stars.
On Saturday afternoon, Konecny also dropped the gloves in the first period. He got the better of Ottawa's Jacob Bernard-Docker in a short bout.
Following Konecny on the Flyers scoring leader board are Kevin Hayes' 13 points (3g, 10a), Tony DeAngelo's nine points (3g, 6a) and Joel Farabee (3g, 6a) who also has nine.
3. Sandström back in net?
When Hart was under the weather earlier this week, Felix Sandström stepped in against the St. Louis Blues and earned his first career NHL win. With the Flyers playing such a packed schedule including the matinee back-to-back and Hart having started the first two games of the three in four set, it would be more of a surprise if Sandström is NOT the goalie who is tabbed to start against the Stars.
For the season, Sandström is 1-3-0 in his four starts with a 3.07 GAA and .909 save percentage. Although Hart has not had his best week -- at least one of the goals in the Columbus game was stoppable -- the Flyers No. 1 goalie still carries a sparkling .937 save percentage to go along with his 2.18 goals against average and 6-2-2 record.
Semi-related note: The Flyers have given up three opposing empty-net goals in the last two games and four for the season overall. It's been almost automatic. Last year, the Flyers scored just two goals when attacking 6-on-5 (third fewest in the NHL). This encompasses both late-game empty-net situations and delayed penalties on the opposing team. Philly gave up 24 opposing ENGs tied for the second most in the NHL (one fewer than the Detroit Red Wings yielded). So far this season, there's been no discernible improvement in sustaining puck possession long enough either for the Flyers themselves to generate Grade A chances or to prevent an opposing ENG that seals the outcome.
4. Allison's injury
Saturday's game was a rough one, health wise, for power forward Wade Allison. He left the game during the first period with an apparent left hand injury. Thankfully, the player returned to the game for the start of the second period. Unfortunately, Allison suffered yet another injury in the same game -- this time a lower-body injury -- when he went awkwardly into the end boards and was unable to get up. Allison required assistance to leave the ice and hobble up the tunnel. As of this writing, there is no update on the player's status.
The Flyers organization dodged a bullet a couple weeks ago when top blueline prospect Cam York had to be helped off the ice in an American Hockey League game with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The injury looked bad in real time, with York's leg/knee appearing to buckle as he went into the boards on a routine play. Thankfully, the injury turned out only to be a day-to-day situation and York was quickly back in the lineup. Hopefully, Allison's injury is more along those lines than some of his previous injuries that have kept him out for lengthy periods of time.
Through the season's first 14 games, Allison has chipped in three goals and four points. One of the team's most physical players, Allison has been credited with 42 hits (third on the team in hitting frequency relative to his average ice time and fourth in terms of total hits). Allison has drawn Tortorella's displeasure at times early in the season by not, from the coach's point of view, playing enough of a strict north-south game and trying too many lateral plays. Lately, though, Allison strung together several noticeably effective games in a row and twice saw his ice time increase north of 14:30 along with receiving 20-plus shifts. Allison played a season-high 16:23 against St. Louis on Tuesday.
Barring a callup from the Phantoms and subject to Tortorella making an alternative lineup decision (for example, dressing seven defensemen), Kieffer Bellows could be in the Flyers' starting lineup on Sunday. The player dressed in each of his first three available games after Philadelphia claimed him off waivers from the New York Islanders. He averaged 12:44 of ice time and had two shots on goal (both in the Nov. 2 game in Toronto). Since that time, Bellows has been scratched in each of the last four games.
The Flyers did some in-game line juggling on Saturday against Ottawa. The projected lineup below is unofficial and based on several assumptions: a) Bellows enters the lineup, b) Most of the starting combinations from Saturday remain intact except for a couple tweaks after Allison went down that held for most of the remaining game, and c) Sandström is in net.
86 Joel Farabee - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 21 Scott Laughton -17 Zack MacEwen
49 Noah Cates - 23 Lukas Sedlak - 58 Tanner Laczynski
20 Kieffer Bellows - 48 Morgan Frost - 44 Nicolas Deslauriers
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
32 Felix Sandström
[79 Carter Hart]
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Dallas Stars
Prior to the Stars' recent back-to-back losses, the team rattled off three straight wins and four victories in a five-game span. Despite the club giving up a combined 10 goals in the last two games, Dallas enters today's game ranked sixth in the NHL with a team 2.64 goals against average. The Flyers rank eighth at a 2.71 GAA. Jake Oettinger has blossomed into an elite NHL goaltender and has posted a 5-2-0 record, 1.90 GAA, ,931 save percentage and one shutout. Scott Wedgewood is 3-3-1 with a 3.21 GAA and ,901 save percentage.
Young power forward Jason Robertson is off to an outstanding start this season with 21 points (9g, 12a) including three power play goals. Roope Hintz has 18 points to date (6g, 12a) while the veteran trio of Joe Pavelski (7g, 7a), team captain Jamie Benn (6g, 7a), and Tyler Seguin (3g, 7a) remain vital to the team's success. Miro Heiskanen leads the defense corps offensively with nine points (2g, 7a). As a team, the Stars rank 7th in the NHL with an average 3.64 goals per game. Philly ranks 31st at 2.57 goals per game.
Projected lineup (subject to change)
21Jason Robertson - 24 Roope Hintz - 16 Joe Pavelski
27 Mason Marchment - 91 Tyler Seguin - 22 Matej Blumel
14 Jamie Benn - 53 Wyatt Johnston - 10 Ty Dellandrea
12 Radek Faksa - 11 Luke Glendening - 25 Joel Kiviranta
4 Miro Heiskanen - 6 Colin Miller
20 Ryan Suter - 5 Nils Lundkvist
23 Esa Lindell - 2 Jani Hakanpää
29 Jake Oettinger
41 Scott Wedgewood