Flyers losing streak reaches five games with a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars

DALLAS — In Carter Hart’s first game back after a two-week layoff with a lower-body injury, the Flyers welcomed him by leaving him under siege.

The Stars scored three times on 16 shots in the second period to help them to a 4-1 victory over the Flyers on Thursday night at the American Airlines Center. Two of the Stars’ goals came on the power play.

Kevin Hayes, the career center playing right wing, ensured that the Flyers would not be shut out. He scored from a tricky angle just above the goal line with seven minutes remaining in the second period in response to the Stars’ four unanswered goals. Hayes’ tally snapped a 23-game goalless drought and brought his season total to 18.

“They’re a good team,” Hayes said. “They’ve got four guys on the rush and I thought they took advantage of that early on in the game. Gave us a couple fits and when you dig yourself that deep of a hole, it’s tough to come out in this league.”

While the Flyers may not have fired many pucks past Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, they pulled a few punches. James van Riemsdyk, who is not a fighter by trade, dropped the gloves with Stars center Luke Glendening in retaliation for his third-period hit on Scott Laughton.

“I’ve got a lot of love for that guy and what he brings on a nightly basis for our team,” Laughton said of van Riemsdyk. “So kudos to him.”

Hart ultimately made 27 saves on 31 shots, as the Flyers’ losing streak extended to five games.

In their last nine games, the Flyers have shown improvement on the penalty kill, going 24-for-28. But leading into Thursday night’s contest, the Stars possessed the seventh-ranked the power play (23.97%), while the Flyers ranked 24th on the penalty kill (75.45%), underscoring a need for the Flyers to stay out of the box.

But the Stars went on their first power play of the night with nearly a minute remaining in the opening frame when defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was called for tripping. With forwards Travis Konecny and Laughton backchecking after a shorthanded scoring chance, Stars winger Jason Robertson received a pass off the wall in his defensive zone from Tyler Seguin to start a breakout. Robertson’s initial shot from the point was blocked by defenseman Nick Seeler, but Robertson collected his own rebound and scored to pull the Stars ahead, 1-0.

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Less than a minute into the second period, the Flyers were caught with too many men on the ice, putting the Stars immediately back on the power play. Miro Heiskanen’s shot from the blue line deflected off of Joe Pavelski up front as the Stars went up, 2-0.

“Broken play and they’re really good at that, probably the best in the league at finding sticks, high tips, and not much Hartsy can do there,” Laughton said of the second power-play goal.

The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the penalty kill through 60 minutes.

Not only do Stars boast the stronger power play than the Flyers, but they also flaunt the more stifling penalty kill. Going into Thursday night, they ranked third on the kill (83.19%), while the Flyers ranked last on the power play (15.49%). Dallas’ strength at a disadvantage showed early against the Flyers, who went on the power play twice in the first period thanks to Cates drawing a cross-check and Tanner Laczynski drawing an interference.

Through two man advantages, the Flyers only managed a pair of shots on goal, failing to solve the Stars’ penalty kill and Oettinger. The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play, extending their power-play goalless drought to four games.

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The Stars continued to pour the pressure on offensively following their second-period power-play goal, and the Flyers didn’t do themselves any favors. Nearly halfway through the middle frame, Colin Miller collected a drop pass off the rush with Hayes and Ivan Provorov in coverage, firing a wrist shot with time and space past Hart on his blocker side to give the Stars a three-goal lead.

Roughly two minutes later, the Stars pounced on a Flyers defensive mistake. A miscommunication between Hart and Provorov led to a turnover behind the Flyers’ net to Pavelski. He centered a pass from below the goal line to Robertson, who shot the puck unabated past Hart, extending the Stars’ lead to four goals.

“Obviously, I screw up behind the net there,” Hart said. “Make a bad play to Provy. I put him in a bad spot and it ends up in the back of the net. But other than that, I thought we were in the game for most of the night.”

The Flyers wrap up their road trip against the New York Islanders on Saturday (7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia).