Stars beat Flyers, 3-1, to extend skid to franchise high-tying 12 games

With their 3-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center, the 2021-22 Flyers cemented their place in franchise history books. Now, dating back to Dec. 30, their losing streak has reached 12 games, which ties a franchise high established during the 1998-99 season.

With roughly 3½ minutes left in the third period, center Jacob Peterson snuck a shot beneath the crossbar and past goalie Carter Hart to give the Stars the go-ahead goal. Later in the third period with Hart pulled, the Stars scored an empty-netter.

In the third period, Hart kept the Flyers in the game by denying 11 of 12 shots on goal as the Stars swarmed. At the halfway mark of the period, Hart robbed defenseman Miro Heiskanen on the short side by making a miraculous glove save to keep the score tied at 1. Through 60 minutes, Hart stopped 33 of 35 shots.

Despite Hart’s best efforts, the Flyers couldn’t execute on their scoring opportunities and dropped their 12th straight game on the first night of a back-to-back, their record falling to 0-9-3 in that stretch.

“You’ve got to find ways to stay positive,” Hart said. “Whether it’s going through game film and looking at some of the plays that you made right or whatever, but I think there’s a lot of things in our game tonight that are strides in the right direction and the last little stretch here, besides the game in Buffalo, have been close games and tight games.”

Going into their game against the Stars, the Flyers had conceded the first goal in nine of their last 10 games. That trend continued, as the Stars got on the board nearly 18 minutes into the first period. In the right corner of the Stars’ zone, wingers Travis Konecny and Oskar Lindblom battled for the puck along the boards. Konecny gained possession of the puck, but his pass to Lindblom in an attempt to break out of the zone was intercepted by winger Jason Robertson.

Robertson passed the puck ahead to spring a breakaway for winger Roope Hintz, whose wrist shot beat Hart five-hole to put the Stars up, 1-0. Defenseman Travis Sanheim, who had committed low in the Stars’ zone as his teammates battled for the puck along the boards, attempted to backcheck and put pressure on Hintz. However, Sanheim couldn’t arrive in time.

“We did not lack energy in this game,” interim coach Mike Yeo said. “That’s one thing we didn’t lack. Maybe some execution at times. But to keep [Jamie] Benn, [Tyler] Seguin, all those guys for 57 minutes to one goal, that’s one thing we didn’t lack.”

From injuries to bounces on the ice, the Flyers haven’t had a lot of luck this season. However, the hockey gods afforded them just a little bit in the second period. After winger Scott Laughton won a faceoff in the Stars’ zone, Konecny fired a one-timer on net, which goalie Jake Oettinger sent wide. Defenseman Ivan Provorov skated into the left corner to retrieve the puck and attempted to pass to Lindblom at the front of the net. However, Provorov’s shot deflected off defenseman John Klingberg’s skate and past Oettinger, tying the game at 1.

The Flyers attempted to jump out to a lead later in the period thanks to efforts from the third line of Gerry Mayhew, Morgan Frost, and Max Willman. With two minutes remaining in the frame, defenseman Cam York fired a shot from the blue line that was tipped by Mayhew on Oettinger. In the midst of chaos ensuing at the crease, Frost put a backhander on net. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen sent the puck up the boards for Mayhew, who put a wrist shot from the blue line on Oettinger, but it went wide. In total, the third line accounted for nine of the Flyers’ 28 shots on goal through 60 minutes.

“I don’t think all three of us have loved the way we’ve played in the last few games,” Frost said. “Both Gerry and Willy are super fast players, so I think we all just said that we wanted to play with speed and get the puck in their zone and buzz around. I think we created a decent amount tonight.”

With winger Wade Allison out injured due to an MCL sprain for the next two to three weeks, the Flyers were short a forward heading into Monday night’s game. Although the Flyers called up forwards Connor Bunnaman and Linus Sandin from theAHL Phantoms, Yeo opted to utilize seventh defenseman Nick Seeler as the fourth-line left wing. If Bunnaman or Sandin played against the Stars, that would mark the third game in three nights for them, so Yeo committed to Seeler’s fresh legs.

More than halfway through the first period, Seeler helped set up a scoring opportunity for the Flyers. Center Jackson Cates passed the puck from the neutral zone off the rush to Seeler at the blue line. While attempting to settle a bouncing puck, Seeler dropped off a pass for Cates, who drove to the net and put a backhander on net, which Oettinger denied.

“I remember playing a few games [at forward] back in college,’’ Seeler said before the game. “I think it was my freshman year. I think at this point any experience is good experience.

“The coaches have done a good job getting me prepared as I can. I think that’s more a factor than playing a couple games in college.’’

On the second night of a back-to-back, the Flyers head to Long Island to face off against the Islanders on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.