The losing streak continues as the Philadelphia Flyers were dispatched 4-1 on home ice against the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
The Stars were a little opportunistic to start the game with two goals on their first few shots from Mavrik Bourque and Roope Hintz. They added a third goal in the second period off the stick of Wyatt Johnston to give them a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the final period.
Morgan Frost got the Flyers on the board but that was all she wrote as the Stars would later add an empty net tally from Miro Heiskanen to ice the game.
Samuel Ersson allowed 4 goals on 23 shots in his first game back from a lower-body injury, while Casey DeSmith earned the victory after making 26 saves on 27 shots.
After having dropped three straight contests, including a home-and-home against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Flyers’ homestand continued with the Stars up next.
The Flyers welcomed back Samuel Ersson after a 3-game absence as he tended between the pipes, looking to improve on his 9-6-2 record, 3.02 GAA, and a.884 SV%. The rest of the lineup remained intact.
As for the Stars, they entered tonight’s contest riding a 5-game winning streak and had gone 7-2-1 over their last 10 games. Casey DeSmith earned the start as he looked to improve on his 5-4-0 record, 2.37 GAA, and a .911 SV%.
While the Stars don’t have any one player that stands out offensively, they were paced by Matt Duchene’s 16 goals and 38 points in 39 games, Jason Robertson’s 32 points, and Wyatt Johnston’s 29 points.
FIRST PERIOD
The Dallas Stars needed just 105 seconds to strike after Mavrik Bourque deflected home a pass from Matt Dumba at the goal-mouth for his 3rd of the season. It was a relatively broken play with Dumba trying to keep up with a bouncing puck but the veteran defenseman did just that before setting up Bourque.
The Stars then doubled their lead just shy of the mid-way point after Roope Hintz followed his own rebound and deposited the goal into the open net for his 19th of the season at the 9:38 mark. Jason Robertson did a good job getting the puck out of his own zone to Evgenii Dadonov before the Russian fired towards the net with Hintz crashing hard.
With 2:52 remaining, the Flyers jumped onto the first power play of the night with Dumba getting the gate for a hooking minor. It was another abysmal showing from a power play that entered the game having gone 5 for 54 on home ice.
The period came to a close with the fans booing the home team off the ice as the Stars held a 2-0 lead while the shots were tied at 9-apiece.
SECOND PERIOD
The middle frame started with Dallas peppering Ersson with chance after chance, especially after the Flyers were hemmed in their own zone and Egor Zamula losing his stick. Zamula and Rasmus Ristolainen were on the ice for over 3 minutes but Ersson made several key stops, including a diving save on Colin Blackwell to gather the whistle.
Wyatt Johnston made it 3-0 after wiring a hard shot high over Ersson’s glove as the Stars’ top-line quickly jettisoned on an odd-man rush. The Flyers had a chance of their own but after losing the puck, the Stars cleared it out and they were caught with Ristolainen as the lone man back. Jamie Benn was able to find the 21-year-old with a seed of a pass as he finished off the play in style for his 10th of the season at the 8:41 mark.
The period came to a close with the Stars adding to their lead as they took a commanding 3-0 score into the intermission as well as an 18-17 edge in shots.
THIRD PERIOD
The Stars earned their first power play of the night after Owen Tippett was nailed for a tripping minor 19 seconds into the final frame of regulation. It was a solid kill but the chances came right after as Tippett rang the post coming out of the box before Scott Laughton missed a wide open tap-in soon after.
Morgan Frost got the Flyers on the board with 13:13 remaining after a strong start to the period. After an offensive zone win, Frost went straight to the net and he was able to corral the puck off a lively bounce off the end-boards from Travis Konecny’s initial shot. The bounce helped out as Frost caught DeSmith napping for his 8th of the season.
Three minutes later, the Flyers jumped back onto the power play after Dumba received his second penalty of the game, this time an interference minor. Unfortunately they were unable to take advantage or let alone create any chances to trouble the netminder.
With 4:32 remaining in regulation, the Flyers pulled Ersson for the extra attacker. After a few chances, the Stars iced the game after Miro Heiskanen sent a near 200-foot shot down the ice and straight into the empty net with 3:13 still left on the board.
The rest of the game was elementary as the offensive woes continued for the slumping Flyers, who dropped their fourth straight contest.
UP NEXT
The Flyers welcome Cutter Gauthier and the Anaheim Ducks to Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night (7:00pm; NBCSP).
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