Flyers vie to end 13-year winless drought in Dallas

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03/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers have goaltender Michael Leighton to thank for keeping them alive in the postseason race. However, the team will be without its waiver-wire gem when it goes for its first win at Dallas in over 13 years in this evening's matchup versus the Stars.

The Flyers signed Ray Emery this past offseason to be their No. 1 netminder and also added Brian Boucher to serve as the backup. Emery, though, battled injuries throughout the season and is currently out with a hip problem and Boucher has struggled at times. That has left the bulk of the starting duties to Leighton, who was claimed off waivers from Carolina on Dec. 15.

Leighton responded by going 16-5-2 with a 2.48 goals-against average in 27 games with the Flyers, making his 15th straight start on Tuesday night at Nashville. The netminder did not finish the game, though, as he exited the first period with a high ankle sprain that has him day-to-day.

Boucher replaced Leighton, who is slated to have an MRI on Thursday, and gave up a goal just 20 seconds into his appearance. However, he settled down to make 24 saves and help the Flyers earn a point in a 4-3 shootout setback.

Jeff Carter scored 1:21 into the game, but the Flyers trailed 3-1 after the first period. Simon Gagne and Chris Pronger then scored 3:04 apart in the third frame to force OT before the Predators scored the lone shootout goal.

Gagne scored for the seventh time in nine games for the Flyers, who are 3-2-2 over their last seven games but fell a point back of the Montreal Canadiens for the Eastern Conference's sixth seed.

Boucher is likely to receive his first start since Dec. 21 tonight, and Tuesday's relief appearance was just his fourth since that span.

"I don't have a lot of evidence to go on as far as playing-wise in the last three months, but I've played in a couple games here since the break in some relief roles, and I feel good about myself," Boucher told the Flyers' Web site. "I anticipate doing a good job with our team continuing to push forward."

Philadelphia fell to 0-1-0 on a four-game road trip and have dropped four straight as the guest. The Flyers will try to snap that skid in Dallas, where they haven't won since Dec. 6, 1996. Philadelphia is 0-4 with a pair of ties in six trips since.

The Flyers did post a 6-3 home win over the Stars on Jan. 12, getting a goal and an assist from Gagne as well as 27 saves by Leighton. That gave the Flyers back-to-back wins over the Stars since going 0-2-0 with three ties in the previous five meetings between the clubs.

Marty Turco allowed five goals on 19 shots in the loss and was given the night off on Tuesday versus San Jose. It didn't matter who was in net, though, as the Stars exploded for a season-high goal output in an 8-2 triumph to make head coach Marc Crawford the 15th coach in NHL history to reach 500 victories.

Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow both scored a pair of goals, including a short-handed tally by each player, and had two assists apiece, while Brad Richards had a goal and two helpers. Brandon Segal scored for the fifth time in seven games since being acquired off waivers from Los Angeles and Kari Lehtonen stopped 45 shots in his second start with Dallas.

"We had some bounces go our way, and got chances early," Morrow told Dallas' Web site. "Kari gave us some confidence and made some really big saves, and we snapped the puck around pretty good. I don't know where it came from, but pretty much every scoring opportunity we were able to execute."

Dallas, which is expected to start Lehtonen again tonight, won for only the second time in eight games since the Olympic break and are seven points behind Detroit for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Stars snapped a four-game home losing streak and are 1-1-1 on a six-game homestand.

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