Well, all good things must come to an end. For the Philadelphia Flyers, 10 wins in a row will certainly be a season highlight as they fell just short of making it to 11 in a 3-1 loss on the road to the Dallas Stars. The Flyers scored the games first goal, in a mostly evenly played match-up, but would ultimately fail to add any insurance to their lead, sealing their fate.
The usually consistent offense the Flyers have displayed all season couldn’t solve Antti Niemi aside from their first-period goal. Despite the loss, the Flyers didn’t play a terrible game. It was more of Niemi making save after save in lieu of all the Flyers chances that ultimately did them in.
First Period
The Dallas Stars came out like men possessed to start off the matinee. They pressured the Flyers all period long but the Flyers would persevere as whistles were few and far between. There was a ton of action up-and-down the ice, with each team going back and forth until the Flyers would convert on the games first goal. Taylor Leier would open the scoring with his first ever NHL goal on a smart play by Nick Cousins just getting the puck on net for Leier to pounce on the rebound.
Second Period
The second period tilted much more in the Stars’ favor, as they were able to tie the game at one just five minutes into the period. Radek Faksa scored his fourth goal of the season on a rebound much like the Flyers’ first-period goal by Leier.
The referee’s had been quiet throughout most of the game to this point, as there was only one power play called, which was ticky-tacky in itself on a too-many-men call on the Flyers. The Flyers were about to go on a power play until the referee’s called it back because the Flyers appeared to be offside. Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol certainly didn’t see eye to eye on the calls the refs had made up to this point in the game.
The Flyers’ best chance in the period came from a Jake Voracek feed to Claude Giroux in which he one-timed from the slot, but Niemi made a great save to keep the game knotted at one.
Third Period
The third period would continue to go the Stars’ way and not the Flyers’. Both teams played the period evenly, with the Flyers taking more territorial control towards the end out of necessity. The Stars would take their first lead of the game on the third rebound goal of the game.
From here, the Flyers would assert themselves for the duration of the game as they worked their tails off to get the game tied and continue the winning streak. However, despite their efforts, and two hit posts by rookie Ivan Provorov, as well as a late power play in the period, the Flyers would come up just short of extending their longest winning streak in over 20 years, to 11 games.
Scoring Summary
FIRST PERIOD
PHI-Taylor Leier (1) assisted by Nick Cousins (6)
SECOND PERIOD
DAL-Radek Faska (4) assisted by Antoine Roussel (12) Brett Richie (3)
THIRD PERIOD
DAL-Adam Cracknell (4) assisted by John Klingberg (13) Tyler Seguin (22)
DAL-Jordie Benn (2) assisted by Jamie Benn (19) Radek Faksa (8)
THW Three Stars
First: Antti Niemi (31 saves, .969 save %)
Second: Radek Faska (1 goal, 1 assist)
Third: Adam Cracknell (1 goal)
Next Game
Nashville Predators vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Wells Fargo Center – 7:00 p.m. EST on Monday, December 19, 2016
Broadcast Channels: CSN Philadelphia, Fox Sports Tennessee; 97.5 The Fanatic
Season Series: Flyers won 4-2 (12/4)