5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Stars

GAME NOTES
Interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (13-20-8) are home on Monday to take on Rick Bowness's Dallas Stars (20-16-2). Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET. (NBCSP, 93.3 WMMR). The Flyers will look to end an 11-game winless streak (0-8-3) that dates back to Dec. 30. This match marks the statistical start of the second half of the 2021-22 season for the Flyers.

Monday's game is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the lone clash in Philadelphia. Back on Nov. 13, 2021, the Stars defeated the Flyers at the American Airlines Center by a 5-2 score. The game was a turning point for both clubs: a negative one for the Flyers and a positive one at the time for the Stars.
Philadelphia was coming off a victory in Carolina and had a 7-3-2 record entering the game. What's more, for the first time all season, the Flyers had Ryan Ellis, Kevin Hayes and Rasmus Ristolainen in the lineup on the same night.
Things seemed to be looking up for the Flyers entering the game. The Stars, meanwhile, stumbled out of the gates, winning only four of their first 12 games (4-6-2) and one of its previous seven (1-4-2) entering the game against Philly.
The Flyers dominated the first period but went to intermission trailing, 1-0. The Stars took over the rest of the game, especially in a lopsided second period. Like Glendening, Roope Hintz, Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski and Radek Faksa (empty net) scored for Dallas. James van Riemsdyk and Ivan Provorov (power play) tallied in a losing cause for the Flyers. Anton Khudobin (31 saves overall, 19 in the first period) outdueled Martin Jones in goal.
The loss in Dallas was a harbinger of what was to come for the Flyers. Ellis has not played again since reaggravating a lower-body injury in that game. Hayes would soon exit the lineup again, too. He later returned but struggled and is presently back on Injured Reserve. The Flyers won their next game after the defeat in Dallas but then went on a 10-game winless skid that cost then-head coach Alain Vigneault his job.
Under Yeo, the Flyers put together a seven-game point streak (5-0-2) stretching from before to just after the leaguewide Christmas break. Since then, however, the team has gone winless in each of its last 11 games. The Flyers enter this game against Dallas in last place in the Metro Division and hopelessly out of the playoff chase.
Meanwhile, for Dallas, the November home win over the Flyers was the springboard to the Stars going 5-1-0 over the remainder of that month. More recently, the Stars have experienced their share of inconsistency.
However, Bowness's team has won back-to-back games (albeit in less-than-artistic fashion) heading into Philadelphia. The Stars presently three points (two standings points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) below the wildcard cutoff in the Western Conference playoff chase.
Here are five things to track in this game:
1. More Lineup Juggling for the Flyers
Oft-injured Flyers power forward prospect Wade Allison sustained a sprained MCL in the third period of Saturday afternoon's 6-3 loss in Buffalo. He is expected to miss a few weeks, possibly returning by the Feb. 9 game against Detroit.
Additionally, winger Zack MacEwen suffered a lower-body injury in Saturday's game. He is considered questionable for this game.
Late last week, the Flyers had to place Joel Farabee on injured reserve due to an upper body injury. He could be out until the latter part of February. Hayes is also back on IR after having fluid drained from his adductor region; core muscle injuries have plagued the big center for nearly a calendar year and he's had two surgeries in that span. Ellis (lower body) and Sean Couturier (upper body) are both on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) with no tabletable to return. Neither player has skated recently. Derrick Brassard (hip) is said to be getting closer to returning but has yet to join the team in a formal practice.
After Monday's team practice in Voorhees, Yeo said it was likely the team would make at least one recall from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to fill out the game roster against the Stars. Additionally, the team may dress seven defensemen for this game.
Yeo confirmed that Carter Hart will get the start in goal against Dallas. Monday's practice featured only three forward lines due to the missing players:
25 James van Riemsdyk -28 Claude Giroux - 89 Cam Atkinson
23 Oskar Lindblom - 21 Scott Laughton - 11 Travis Konecny
20 Gerry Mayhew - 48 Morgan Frost - 71 Max Willman
9 Ivan Provorov - 61 Justin Braun
6 Travis Sanheim - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle - 45 Cam York
24 Nick Seeler - 8 Kevin Connauton
79 Carter Hart
35 Martin Jones
2. Yandle to Tie NHL Ironman Streak Record.
When Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle skates his first shift of Monday's game, the 36-year-old will tie the NHL record "Ironman" streak of playing 964 consecutive regular season games set by longtime Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals center Doug Jarvis. Yandle will match the record on Monday against the Stars and then break the record on Tuesday when the Flyers visit the New York Islanders.
Of the 10 longest ironman streaks in NHL history, eight have been compiled by forwards. Yandle's streak is 23 games longer than the next-closest player: Phil Kessel's still-active 940-game streak. Among the lengthiest ironman streaks by defensemen, the closest to Yandle's was set by Jay Bouwmeester (737 consecutive games played between March 6, 2004, and Nov. 22, 2014).
A three-time NHL All-Star Game participant, Yandle had a rough season in his final campaign with the Florida Panthers in 2020-21. Along with virtually the entire Flyers' team, the 2021-22 season has also gone awry for Yandle after a good start (5 assists in the season's first three games).
Although he has primarily been used for offensive-zone starts (68.4 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts) and the power play across an average 15:11 of ice time per game, Yandle has scuffled to produce sufficient offense (0g, 13a) while struggling defensively (-22).
The ironman streak, however, is not about what's happened the last two seasons. To even approach such a streak, it's a testament to a player who has shown extraordinary durability and ongoing love of the game.
3. Inside the Numbers.
After Saturday's loss in Buffalo, the Flyers' record fell to an appalling 2-18-3 in games in which opponents score the first goal. Philly briefly bounced back in that game to take a 2-1 lead later in the first period but the wheels fell off thereafter. When scoring first, the Flyers are 11-2-5. The Stars are 16-6-1 when scoring first and 4-10-1 when trailing first.4
These numbers tell the tale of why the Flyers are winless in January: In 10 games played, the club has been outscored 26-15 at 5-on-5, and 40-20 overall. The power play, which has failed repeatedly in must-score situations, limps into this game at 15.6 percent (5-for-32) this month. The Flyers' penalty kill, which had been a strength prior to Christmas, has nosedived this month. After getting torched for three goals against on four Buffalo power plays on Saturday, the PK fell to 61.5 percent (16-for-26) this month.
For the season, the Flyers are minus-19 at 5-on-5 (70 GF/89 GA). The Stars are minus-nine (65 GF/74 GA). However, the Stars' power play ranks fourth in the NHL at 27.0 percent efficiency while Flyers come in ranked 27th at 15.8 percent. The Flyers have also coughed up six opposing shorthanded goals to two by Dallas.
4. Behind Enemy Lines: Dallas Stars
The Stars have won back-to-back games since being humiliated on home ice, 5-3, by the Montreal Canadiens last Tuesday. However, Bowness and his team were not thrilled by the sloppiness that was part and parcel to 5-4 regulation and overtime road wins in Buffalo and Detroit last Thursday and Friday.
Since then, the Stars have had back-to-back idle nights on the schedule. On Sunday, they practiced at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees -- the second time a visiting team has practiced this season at Philadelphia's training facility -- due to the unavailability of the Wells Fargo Center for a Wings lacrosse game. One of the main themes at Sunday's practice was getting defensemen to join the attack on intelligent pinches and establishing the puck support necessary to create chances off the rush and transition game.
As with the Flyers, the Stars are dealing with a banged-up roster. Longtime Flyers winger Michael Raffl, who went down in the Stars' last game with a lower-body injury, is out for approximately two weeks. Others are questionable for Monday's game, although Bowness deferred lineup decisions until game day.
For many years, team captain Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin were the backbone of the Stars' attack. Seguin, who underwent surgery last year amid a rough season, has looked more like himself of late with three goals and six points in the last games. His overall season numbers, however, are below the typical standards of Seguin's career (12g, 19 points, -14 in 38 games). Former Art Ross Trophy winner Benn is pointless in his last eight games (nine goals, 17 points for the season) and has been a frustrated player at times.
At age 37, NHL All-Star Game selection Joe Pavelski has shown no signs of slowing down. He enters this game with 43 points (16g, 27a) on the season. Young power forward Jason Robertson has potted 16 goals and 37 points in just 30 games played. Hintz, who had his way with the Flyers in the first meeting this season, has posted a team-high 17 goals.
The subject of frequent trade rumors, defenseman John Klingberg has posted 22 points (1g. 21a) in 33 games but drags a team-low minus-15 into the game. Miro Heiskanen leads the club in ice time with an average 24:38 TOI per game and has posted 24 points (4g, 20a).
Thirty-five-year-old winger Alexander Radulov was limited by injury last season to 11 games played. He has struggled for much of the 2021-22 season. The two-time 72-point scorer comes into this game with one goal and 12 assists on the season.
New to the Stars this season, veteran goalie Braden Holtby has played in 20 games for Dallas, posting an 8-8-1 record, 2.68 GAA and .913 save percentage. Jake Oettinger has had 14 outings (9-4-0, 2.73 GAA, .905 save percentage).
Entering this game, the Stars ranked tied for 18th in the NHL offensively at a 2.89 goals per game average. The team 3.11 goals against average ranks 21st and has been going in the wrong direction in recent weeks. In January, the Stars have yielded four or more goals in five games and six goals or more twice. However, Dallas has managed to go 3-2-0 in that span.
5. Players to Watch: Laughton and Pavelski
With offensively talented rookie Morgan Frost struggling mightily this month and both Couturier and Hayes on IR, the Flyers desperately need some more center production behind Giroux. Second-line center duties have been assigned to Scott Laughton (6g, 9a). He has recorded assists in four of the last five games but is 13 games removed from his last goal. Laughton's tenacity on the forecheck, PK work and speed are heavily relied upon in general, but the Flyers could also use a few more goals from him.
Despite his advanced NHL age, the Stars still lean very heavily on Pavelski to be a do-everything player for the team. He's averaged 17:27 TOI per game for the season and has averaged north of 20 minutes per game over the team's last three matches. Pavelski enters this game on an offensive hot streak with eight points (1g, 7a) in his last four games. He's also racked up 14 shots on goal over the last three games.