By ,
Published May 02, 2016
(SportsNetwork.com) - After watching their playoff chances take a big hit over the weekend, the Philadelphia Flyers try to avoid a third loss in a row on Tuesday night when they host the Dallas Stars.
The Flyers enter play tonight seven points back of the Boston Bruins for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They lost an overtime decision to the Bruins on Saturday, then fell in defeat 5-2 to the New Jersey Devils the following day.
Ryan White and Michael Raffl each had a goal for the Flyers, who have lost five of their last seven (2-3-2). Steve Mason allowed all five goals on 21 shots in defeat.
"We've been in deep trouble all year; since I've been here we've been 13 points back or something like that," said White. "We have to stick together as a group and keep chipping away. We only control the games we play. We just have to make sure we're doing that to give ourselves a chance to win."
Mason figures to start tonight and is 5-4-1 with a 2.75 goals against average and a .905 save percentage in 12 career meetings with the Stars. He was lifted early in a 6-5 win over the hosting Stars on Oct. 18.
Philadelphia beat Dallas for the eighth time in the previous nine encounters with that win as Jakub Voracek had a goal and two assists, and Claude Giroux scored the OT winner 2:49 into the frame.
That allowed the Flyers to overcome four-point games by the Stars' Jason Spezza (1 goal, 3 assists) and Tyler Seguin (4 assists) and tonight they look to beat Dallas for the fifth time in a row at home.
Seguin, meanwhile, returned from a 10-game absence caused by a knee injury to net a pair of goals in Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vernon Fiddler also had a pair of goals, his second coming with 2.6 seconds left in the game.
Jhonas Enroth allowed five goals on 28 shots in defeat as the Lightning scored three goals in the third period, including a pair during a two-minute span early in the frame to go ahead for good.
"We give away wins. That's what we did again tonight," said Seguin. "It's on all of us in here. We can't make excuses for it. We gave them those two goals to win."
The Stars had a two-game winning streak snapped with their seventh loss in nine games. They are last in the Central Division with 68 points, 10 back of a wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Dallas could play the third contest of a five-game road trip without defenseman John Klingberg, who sustained a lower-body injury versus the Lightning and is day-to-day. Klingberg leads all NHL rookie defenseman with 26 assists and 36 points.
It is unknown if Kari Lehtonen or Enroth will start this game. Lehtonen has never beaten the Flyers in 13 previous meetings (12 starts), going 0-10-3 with a 3.70 GAA and .886 save percentage.
Enroth is 1-2-0 versus Philadelphia with a 2.51 GAA and .912 save percentage in five games (4 starts).
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/flyers-aim-to-bounce-back-vs-stars