The Philadelphia Flyers trailed the Dallas Stars by two goals at the end of two periods at American Airlines Arena on Saturday. They stormed back to tie the game in the third period, only to watch the Stars take the lead 1:40 later.
But the Flyers remained undaunted, and Michael Raffl's goal with 3:53 left in the third forced overtime. Captain Claude Giroux scored on a power play 2:49 into overtime to give the Flyers a 6-5 win, Philadelphia's first this season. Giroux's goal came from the left circle on a wrist shot through Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen. Philadelphia gained the man advantage when Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley was called for hooking against Brayden Schenn, who was heading toward a loose puck and an empty net. Philadelphia got third-period goals from Andrew MacDonald, Jakub Voracek and Raffl. The Stars took a 5-4 lead on Jason Spezza's first goal with Dallas with 5:06 remaining in regulation, but Raffl's goal off Daley's skate with 3:53 left made it 5-5. Daley had two power-play goals and an assist for the Stars, who got four-point games from Spezza (one goal, three assists) and Tyler Seguin (four assists). Each of Daley's goals, his second and third of the season, came right after the Flyers were called for having too many men on the ice. That second bench minor was a call Flyers coach Craig Berube didn't agree with. Daley's first goal came in the first period when he one-timed a shot from the right circle past goaltender Steve Mason to give the Stars a 1-0 lead at 11:32. His second goal came late in the second period when he again slipped in a pass from Seguin, scoring from almost the same spot as his first goal to put Dallas ahead 3-2 at 18:33. Daley's second goal was part of a three-goal third period for the Stars. Philadelphia cut it to 4-3 at 8:32 of the third period when MacDonald scored on a slap shot. The Flyers answered Daley's first goal at 13:16 of the first period when Sean Couturier poked in a rebound for his second goal. MacDonald's shot from distance was deflected twice, first by Flyers forward R.J. Umberger and again by the skate of Stars defenseman Jordie Benn. Couturier spotted the free puck near the far post and quickly knocked it in. The Flyers took their first lead at 15:09 of the first period when Brayden Schenn collected a deflection off Lehtonen's left pad for his first goal of the season. Schenn's brother, Luke Schenn, took the initial shot from distance. Early in the second period, the Stars tied it 2-2 when Erik Cole scored off the rush at 2:46. After a long pass from behind the Stars goal by Brenden Dillon was tipped by Patrick Eaves, Shawn Horcoff rushed up the left side and delivered a pinpoint pass, which Cole knocked in with a backhand from the left post. Less than a minute after Daley's second goal, with Dallas leading 3-2, Jamie Benn tapped in a Seguin pass from behind the Flyers goal. Spezza was battling with defenseman Nick Schultz for possession of the puck and pushed it over to Seguin, who quickly fed Benn for the goal at 19:29. Mason, who stopped 14 of 18 shots, was replaced after two periods by Ray Emery, who got the win after stopping four of five shots over 22:49. The Flyers cut it to 4-3 at 8:32 of the third period when MacDonald put a slap shot from the left point over Lehtonen's glove for a power-play goal. It came when Philadelphia had seven seconds left on the power play, resulting from an interference call on Jordie Benn at 6:39. After MacDonald's goal pulled the Flyers to within a goal, Voracek, who finished with three points (one goal, two assists), scored at 14:14 to tie the game 4-4. In the opening minute, Dallas went down a defenseman when Patrik Nemeth sustained a laceration on his right arm after Umberger inadvertently caught him with his left skate in front of the Flyers bench.
Lindy Ruff: "[Nemeth's] going to be out for a good period of time. We played stupid hockey. Lack of focus. If you play like that, you deserve to lose."
Jason Spezza: "We just have to find a way to learn how to win hockey games as a team. I think we're a hungry group, but sometimes we're a little overanxious when we're protecting leads."
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