The Dallas Stars took the Flyers to the woodshed for the most part Saturday night, winning 5-1 thanks to a Jason Robertson hat trick and a Philadelphia effort that didn’t quite measure up.
The basics
First period: 3:48- Lian Bichsel (Alex Petrovic, Justin Hryckowian)
Second period: 11:39- Jason Robertson (Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz), 17:02- Jason Robertson (Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell)
Third period: 9:29- Jason Robertson (Roope Hintz, Mikko Rantanen) (PPG), 10:57- Christian Dvorak (Owen Tippett), 13:51- Tyler Seguin (Ilya Lyubushkin)
SOG: 21 (PHI) – 28 (DAL)
Some takeaways
Dan has a night to forget
On the second of a back-to-back, against a team that recently destroyed Montreal 7-0, the Flyers needed everyone pulling their weight on this night. And Dan Vladar did his share early, stopping a 2-on-1 rush by the Stars less then two minutes into the game before Travis Sanheim got his stick to deflect the rebound. The Stars’ second bit of offense found the back of the net. Tyson Foerster took a shot off the right forearm or wrist prior to the goal but didn’t miss a shift thankfully.
Lian Bichsel with his first goal of the season! pic.twitter.com/3nRMlP4JzW
— DLLS Stars (@DLLS_Stars) November 16, 2025
Vladar was busy early and often, essentially holding the Flyers in it and preventing it from being a quick laugher. Another flurry of pressure halfway through the first resulted in a whistle as Philadelphia looked lost in their own end in terms of defensive coverage. The loss was the second in a row for Vladar and marked the third time in his last five outings he surrendered three or more goals.
It was a game showing just how far to go the Flyers have in order to be a contending team. And also just how much work they have to do to ensure they win a handful of these horde of back-to-back games, particularly the second of two. Vladar stopped 23 of 28 shots for a .821 save percentage. Between that percentage and Ersson’s the previous game, getting two of a possible four points on this trip was fortunate.
Couturier avoids calamity
With the score and outcome looking more certain, Sean Couturier nearly injured himself colliding with Roope Hintz. Neither player saw the other until it was too late and both appeared to be briefly shaken up. Fortunately Couturier and Hintz were both coasting and not going at any speed, resulting in both of them continuing on.
D-vo lone offensive bright spot
Although Dallas was up 4-0 and it was over, the Flyers at least kept one streak in tact: not being shut out. Philadelphia broke Oettinger’s shutout bid moment’s after Robertson’s hat-trick goal to make it 4-1.
Christian Dvorak stays red hot for some reason and breaks the shutout!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/oVfIIlNFT4
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) November 16, 2025
In the end the game was lost and over, but it was another little confidence boost to Dvorak and that line who perhaps might have found some chemistry on this road trip.
Has Andrae earned Tocchet’s trust? Looks like that
Emil Andrae was just two minutes behind Cam York (15:19) in terms of ice time heading into the second intermission. It might not seem like a big deal, but usurping Jamie Drysdale — however briefly it might be — of having the third highest minutes among the Flyers’ blueliners had to be a feather in his hat. Andrae again was marginally okay on a night a lot of guys were bad. After throwing his big hit on Faksa, the defenseman looked more confident on the ice, taking a lot of the head off Noah Juulsen while also helping generate a few offensive chances. It’s another sign that the defender is making life for Egor Zamula hellish.
Better start in second
The Flyers — tied with Dallas for second in the league for most comeback wins (seven) — looked a little more with it to begin the middle period. Matvei Michkov got a shot on Dallas keeper Jake Oettinger which wasn’t anything special normally. Considering how one-sided the first was it was a small victory of sorts. Michkov had a far better chance as Sean Couturier found him in deep on Oettinger. He couldn’t get the puck up and over him to tie things up.
Philadelphia began tilting the ice back to respectability, getting more shots in the opening minutes of the second than the three they had in the first. Owen Tippett had the first (and best) scoring chance on a good rush up ice but wasn’t able to cash in. The Flyers started coming alive though, with the lines beginning to stack a few good shifts together for the first time all night.
Sadly, another miscue resulted in a four-on-two rush. Jason Robertson put a soft backhander just beyond Vladar’s reach to make it 2-0.
ROBOOOOO 🤩
— Victory+ (@victoryplustv) November 16, 2025
Jason Robertson coming in clutch once again.#TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/ms7UHeW5qO
Power play peril
The Stars were humming at over 30 per cent efficiency on the power play. So the Flyers needed to take as few minors as possible. Bobby Brink was called for interference late in the first and Philadelphia were successful against the nearly lethal Dallas special team. The Stars scored once on their two power plays while the Flyers were kept off the board in the lone attempt.
Start not ideal
Philadelphia went into the game knowing they would probably have to weather the storm in the first 10 minutes to have a chance. And they did just that being down just 1-0 to a team that oozes firepower. Dallas had seven of the first eight shots in the game. Meanwhile, the Flyers could’ve been down 2-0 or 3-0 had Dallas had any semblance of puck luck. It was probably the closest Philadelphia looked to a Tortorella-era team all season, with shot blocking being the first option far more than a last resort.
If head coach Rick Tocchet was irked by the St. Louis start Friday evening, it’s safe to say he wasn’t overjoyed by the start on this night. It looked like the Stars had a power play with their fourth line out as Philadelphia had no answers and no legs. The first highlight from the Flyers came from Emil Andrae who threw a lovely check on Radek Faksa into the corner boards. But other than that, not a lot to get excited about, aside from Vladar and the buzzer signaling the period’s end. The Flyers had no flow after the opening twenty as this game flow graphic shows.
Konecny hit and miss
While having an impressive point streak recently, Travis Konecny could be given a bit of leeway at points. However a costly gaffe late in the second was Philadelphia’s nail in the coffin. Konecny had one or two chances to simply get the puck out of his own zone. Instead he lollygagged a bit before missing the mark and icing the puck. The ensuing faceoff resulted in Jason Robertson scoring his second of the night to make it 3-0.
Konecny wasn’t the only one on the line who was having a hard night. While all three were -2 after two period and had a combined five giveaways, Michkov had four of the 14 shots on goal Philadelphia took through 40. The Mad Russian also had a prime opportunity in the third but Oettinger stopped him cold.
