Flyers Flat as Stars Claim Win

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

A look at the two teams' records on paper on Saturday would indicate the Flyers should be able to come away with a win against a Dallas Stars team that was struggling. But Dallas had only played once since Monday, losing on Wednesday and showing their frustration in the form of a closed-door players-only meeting. The Flyers, in their third game in four nights, showed their fatigue.

The result was a 5-2 loss for the Flyers to the Stars, who got the only goal of a first period while getting heavily out-shot, then took control for the remainder.

The Flyers came out with a solid early push, getting a sizable lead in shots in the opening period. But it was the Stars who were able to strike first after a prolonged shift.

A point shot by John Klingberg was deflected by Luke Glendening and beat Martin Jones to give the Stars the 1-0 lead at 13:23.

The Flyers had a second power play moments later and were unable to take advantage. They finished the period with an 19-7 lead in shots, but trailed where it counted.

After generating a lot of shots in the first, the Flyers looked tired and slow as the Stars took control in the second. Their push was finally rewarded at 12:22, as Roope Hintz was able to put home a rebound to make it a 2-0 game.

The Flyers were able to get on the board with a strange play at 16:36. Out of a scramble in front, James van Riemsdyk took a swing at the puck and could not put it home, but the puck came loose again and was knocked in by the glove of a Dallas defender to make it a 2-1 game.

But just 26 seconds later, the Flyers gave the goal right back. Tyler Seguin tipped one home at the front of the net, making it a 3-1 game with 2:58 left in the period. The Stars only out-shot the Flyers, 10-6, in the middle period, but the damage was done going to the third. 

Early in the third, the Stars got a power play and made the Flyers pay as Joe Pavelski scored on a rebound to make it 4-1.

The Flyers got a power-play goal of their own at 8:07 from Ivan Provorov to cut the lead back to two, but got no closer as Radek Faksa scored into an empty net with 2:03 to play to seal the result.

Eleven different players recorded a point for Dallas. Hintz and Glendening were the only two to post a multi-point game. 

Khudobin finished the game with 31 saves in the win. Jones took the loss, making 26 saves on 30 shots.  

The Flyers return home for the next three games, starting with a matchup against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• DAL Luke Glendening (4) (John Klingberg, Ryan Suter) 13:23

2nd Period

• DAL Roope Hintz (2) (Denis Gurianov, Jason Robertson) 12:22
• PHI James van Riemsdyk (2) (Unassisted) 16:36
• DAL Tyler Seguin (5) (Jacob Peterson, Andrej Sekera) 17:02

3rd Period

• DAL Joe Pavelski (4) PP (Hintz, Alexander Radulov) 2:27
• PHI Ivan Provorov (1) PP (Kevin Hayes, Ryan Ellis) 8:07
• DAL Radek Faksa (2) EN (Glendening) 17:57

Game Statistics