Flyers hope to keep streaking vs. Jets

The Philadelphia Flyers were surging nine days ago with their third straight win.

But the All-Star break arrived and they were forced to take a break.

The Flyers won 5-2 at Montreal on Jan. 19 and they'll be back in action looking for their fourth straight victory with a home game against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.

It's unclear which goaltender will start -- rookie Carter Hart or Anthony Stolarz. Hart made 33 saves against the Canadiens in his fifth straight start.

During the break, Hart was loaned to the Flyers' American Hockey Affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

In the win over the Canadiens, Nolan Patrick scored two goals while James van Riemsdyk, Travis Konecny and Michael Raffl each scored one goal.

Flyers captain Claude Giroux was also playing at a high level entering the break and he was chosen for his sixth All-Star Game. Giroux has 14 goals and 38 assists.

"When I was young, all I wanted was to play in the NHL," Giroux told NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com. "I remember how special it was for me to participate in my first All-Star Game. You go there the first time, you don't know what to expect. You meet those other guys you've competed against and rivals. It's a great weekend."

Patrick had been carrying the Flyers before the All-Star break and clearly had snapped out of an early season skid. Patrick went 25 games at one juncture without scoring and he now has nine goals and eight assists.

"It weighs on you quite a bit," Patrick told reporters of his drought. "It's something you think about quite a bit when you go through a slump like that. I didn't know it would take that long."

In their most recent game, the Jets fell 4-2 on the road to the Dallas Stars.

The Jets had been one of the hottest teams in the league with four consecutive wins and 31 victories overall.

Kyle Connor and Brendan Lemieux each scored one goal and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 35 shots in the two-goal loss to the Stars.

"You're going to have a bad game every once in a while," Jets forward Mark Scheifele told reporters. "We had ours tonight."

Hellebuyck kept the Jets close before the team faltered late in the game and took the rare loss.

"I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves and expect more," Hellebuyck told reporters. "We should expect to get better every day and every game."

One of the most consistent players for the Jets has been captain Blake Wheeler, who has compiled four goals and 13 assists in the last 14 games. Wheeler had an assist against the Stars and continued his stellar play.

The Stars managed seven power plays and that ultimately cost the Jets in extending their winning streak.

"They were desperate and we weren't able to match that through the first two," Wheeler told reporters. "Spent too much time in the box. We were able to get some momentum in the third, but it wasn't enough."

The Jets are one of the best road teams in the league with a 13-9-0 record.

--Field Level Media