History has been made. Well, kind of.
The Philadelphia Flyers entered Monday night’s game with an 11-game winless streak (0-8-3). They were in danger of matching their franchise record of 12 straight games without a win –– and they did.
It was also a record-tying night for Keith Yandle, who tied Doug Jarvis’s ironman streak with his 964th consecutive NHL game played. He is set to break the record on Tuesday night on Long Island.
First Period
The Flyers had one of their best shifts of the period off the opening draw. The second line (Oskar Lindblom, Scott Laughton, and Travis Konecny) generated pressure and had Jake Oettinger out of the crease, but they couldn’t find the net.
That was a trend for the Flyers in the first period as they got their first shot on goal 6:19 into the period and didn’t get their second until there was 8:25 left in the frame.
The defensemen haven’t done the Flyers any favors this season and that continued tonight. Rasmus Ristolainen made a poorly-timed pinch that resulted in a two-on-one rush for the Stars. Claude Giroux raced back to try to help out and ultimately Carter Hart bailed out his defenseman.
The Stars then slowed things down a bit and controlled most of the play. Their second chance of the game was another good one after a Laughton turnover, but once again Hart had the answer.
Morgan Frost, who centered Gerry Mayhew and Max Willman on the third line, made a nice stick lift in the offensive zone to generate a chance, but the Flyers couldn’t get anything on net.
Yandle, who tied Jarvis’s ironman streak in the game, passed into a Flyers line change for an icing, which just about sums up how this season has gone for him and the team.
The Starts continued to control play and eventually took advantage of poor positioning by the Flyers. Roope Hintz was left unmarked and he beat Hart on a breakaway to open the scoring.
Roope Hintz is left all alone for a breakaway and beats Hart to open the scoring. pic.twitter.com/IIRNnfPdN9
— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) January 25, 2022
The Flyers actually had a few decent shifts after Dallas’ goal, but they couldn’t beat Oettinger. Hintz nearly had another goal in the waning seconds of the period, but Cam Atkinson made a nice stick check to tie him up.
Dallas led 1-0 on the scoreboard and 10-7 in shots after the first period.
Second Period
The second period was more of the same, but perhaps even slower.
James van Riemsdyk had a decent chance from the slot with Claude Giroux set up for a one-timer as a decoy, but JVR’s shot was blocked. It was one-and-done for the Flyers in the offensive zone, just as most of their shifts were.
Giroux tried to get things going after stealing a puck off the wall in the defensive zone. Cam Atkinson eventually got a good deflection chance, but the Stars cleared the zone and Ristolainen iced the puck.
The Flyers then iced the puck again with 5:51 elapsed in the second period and the teams then played nearly five minutes (to 10:46 elapsed) without a whistle. It was a lot of back-and-forth play with neither team getting many shots or quality chances.
Then the Flyers broke the ice. It wasn’t a quality chance or even a direct shot on goal. Ivan Provorov threw the puck toward the net from the wall and it bounced in off of John Klingberg’s skate.
We’ll take it. #DALvsPHI | #BringItToBroad pic.twitter.com/8wWJR0aPrH
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 25, 2022
Just like that, it was a tie game.
The action picked up a bit after that. The Flyers began to generate some more pressure, but so did the Stars.
Dallas hemmed the Flyers in their own zone for a few shifts in a row and it felt like a goal was inevitable. However, Hart had the answers and the Flyers kept the Stars largely to the outside.
The Flyers also had some chances, particularly in front of the net. The third line had Oettinger down and out, but they couldn’t find the back of the net. The top line also had a similar chance in the final minute but failed to score.
The Stars and Flyers were tied at one after two periods of play.
Third Period
There were no penalties through two periods but the physicality picked up a bit in front of Hart early in the third period. It was a relatively clean game and that was one of the few skirmishes.
The third period wasn’t that much different than the first two. The Stars looked like the better team and the Flyers looked like a team that hadn’t won this year.
James van Riemsdyk had another good look after stealing a breakout pass at the blue line. He played a give-and-go with Giroux before getting denied.
The Stars got their best chance since Hintz’s breakaway just past the midpoint of the third period. Miro Heiskanen had the puck on his stick and was staring at an open net, but Hart got across to make a fantastic save.
Carter Hart is still pretty good at this hockey thing. pic.twitter.com/PELoKa6oBH
— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) January 25, 2022
The Stars kept pushing, but Hart kept denying them. That gave the Flyers some life as the top two lines went to work in the offensive zone and generated some pressure. Nothing came of it, though.
But Dallas would eventually break through, as Alex Radulov maneuvered behind the net and made a nice backhand pass to Jacob Peterson in front. Peterson roofed the shot and although it wasn’t ruled a goal right away, it clearly entered the net.
The Stars had a 2-1 lead with 3:25 remaining and Mike Yeo pulled Carter Hart for the extra attacker with 2:35 left in the period. Less than a minute later, Joe Pavelski hit the empty net from long range to ice the game.
Quick Observations
- It was good to see Morgan Frost play well. Even without NHL veterans on his line, Frost was able to drive play and generate chances. His line was arguably the best line in the game for the Flyers.
- Carter Hart continues to show that last season was a fluke. The Stars didn’t have too many high-danger chances nor did Hart have to make many spectacular saves up until the third period, but he was strong in net. As long as the Flyers have Hart, tanking is going to be hard. But the skaters in front of him are doing everything they can to bring down the team.
- The Flyers tied the franchise record for most consecutive games without a win with 12. The 1998-99 Flyers went 0-8-4 (eight losses, four ties) from February 24th to March 16th, 1999./
