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The Dallas Stars have continued to tread water since the trade deadline and will try to escape their funk when they host the struggling Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon.

Dallas has gone 2-2-2 over the past two weeks and most recently lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. The Stars once again struggled with puck possession and left goalie Casey DeSmith out to dry against one of the NHL’s best offenses.

“Other than Casey DeSmith, they were harder, hungrier, heavier than us, which is inexcusable this time of year,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said.

Dallas continues to hold a three-point lead over the Colorado Avalanche for second place in the Central Division. That spot will give the Stars home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but they won’t hold that position for long if they don’t begin to improve.

“We’ve been leaking a little bit over the last couple of weeks,” DeBoer said. “I thought was about as bad as it has been (against the Lightning).”

The Stars made the biggest move of the March 7 trade deadline by acquiring high-scoring forward Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Logan Stankoven, a conditional first-round draft pick in 2026, a conditional first-round pick in 2028, a third-round pick in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.

Rantanen had two goals and two assists in his first four games with Dallas, but does not have a point in the past two games.

DeBoer is not revealing any big plans for unlocking his team’s potential, just stating, “We’ll figure it out.”

The Flyers should provide a good opportunity.

Philadelphia has lost three in a row and eight of nine. The Flyers haven’t won in regulation since a 6-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 25.

Philadelphia most recently lost 3-2 against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, when it surrendered career goal No. 888 to Alex Ovechkin, moving him within seven goals of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.

The Flyers had failed to score for nine straight periods, before registering two goals in the final frame Thursday to make it a close finish.

“You feel like you’re doing the right things, it’s just not going in, and getting bad bounces,” Flyers center Ryan Poehling said. “So good for us to compete there at the end, show some pride and give us a chance to win.”

The Flyers also watched the Capitals become the first NHL team to clinch a playoff berth this season, something they haven’t accomplished themselves since 2000.

“Another good team that we played a pretty good game against,” Philadelphia forward Travis Konecny said. “Obviously, some mistakes that we could clean up. We’ve been playing well against good teams for the most part and got to keep on going.”

The Flyers have scored more than two goals just once in their past eight games. They average 2.70 goals per game on the season, which is 26th in the league.

“I hope we get confident scoring some goals,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “The only way to do that is to score some goals.”

One way would be on the power play, but the Flyers are 0-for-25 with the man-advantage this month while allowing a one shorthanded goal in that span.

“Just stick with it,” Konecny said. “We are trying.”

–Field Level Media