The game flow chart below will tell you most of what you need to know about these game. The Dallas Stars jumped all over the Philadelphia Flyers. At times it seemed like the Stars had an extra player on the ice, but Michal Neuvirth played great to keep it scoreless after one.
Against the run of play, Ghost scored another nice goal on the power play. That seemed to push the Stars over the edge, and eventually all their pressure finally paid off. Janmark's attempted pass went in off Simmonds' skate, and the dam was broken. Before long it was 2-1, with the Flyers in catchup mode.
The Flyers tweaked their lines and pieced together some pressure for an equalizer, but it was not enough. The Stars were deserved winners, 3-1.
Game Flow
Goals:
1 – 0. PPG, Gostisbehere (Giroux, Voracek). PHI on-ice: 10, 17, 28, 93, 53
1 – 1. Janmark (Spezza, Oduya). PHI on-ice: 14, 17, 24, 3, 15
1 – 2. Roussel (Eakin, Demers). PHI on-ice: 14, 17, 24, 55, 82
1 – 3. Empty net, Benn (Seguin). PHI on-ice: 10, 17, 25, 28, 53, 93
Forwards
The first of two potential stories coming out of this game is a return of Voracek to the top line. The switch occurred after the Flyers fell behind 2-1, so it may have just been an emergency measure. That's something to keep an eye on, and it could have trickle down effects on all the other lines if changed.
Second, it was a bad game for the Couturier line. They got buried in possession numbers, and that's without even seeing much of the Stars' top line. They were -2, and also took several penalties. Not good any way you look at it.
On a more minor note, White continues to play more minutes than his linemates. He took some shifts with Bellemare and VandeVelde in the third, and was even on the ice in the last minute as the Flyers pushed for a late goal.
Defense
The numbers for all the pairs reflect how the Flyers were struggling just to keep their head above water all night. Schultz and Medvedev saw the most of Benn and Seguin, and their numbers show it. Furthermore, Schultz sat much of the third period as the Flyers tried to come from behind.
Manning had some truly terrible numbers, and Ghost was only a little better. Still, Ghost scored another power play goal to emphasize his worth to this team.
Marc Naples is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter@SuperScrub47.