The Dallas Stars just might have the best line in hockey these days.
Tyler Seguin’s unit with Jamie Benn and Patrick Sharp did damage early and damage late on the Flyers Tuesday night during a 2-1 victory over the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
Dallas has now won four straight while the Flyers, coming off a five-day layoff, saw their modest two-game win streak ended with Steve Mason back in goal.
Seguin’s line had two goals and two assists for four points in just two periods.
The Flyers trailed 2-0 in the third period before Sean Couturier’s first goal of the season at 8:57 saw him stumble, fall and nearly kick the puck into the net off Wayne Simmonds’ shot.
The Flyers came into play having not allowed a goal in 132:05.
Stars goalie Antti Niemi had a 2-1 lifetime record against the Flyers with a sterling 1.83 goals-against average and .963 save percentage.
Notable goals
Seguin lost a faceoff to Sean Couturier to begin the second period, but recovered it to feed Benn for a 2-on-1 breakaway that ended with Benn ripping one shortside on Mason for a 2-0 lead at 11 seconds.
Goalie report
Dallas scored twice to the shortside on Mason.
No shots
The Flyers went 9:50 between the first and second periods without a shot.
Final minute
Never give up a goal in the final minute of a period. Yet the Flyers did, allowing Seguin to score with 51.8 ticks left in the first period. Dallas made a late push with nine shots over the final six minutes. Brandon Manning couldn’t control a bouncing puck under pressure and Seguin swiped at it, flipping it short side – still bouncing – over Mason for a 1-0 lead.
Milestone detoured
R.J. Umberger needs two games for 300 as a Flyer but he remains a healthy scratch, coming off an injury. Common practice in sports is a player should never lose a starting job because of an injury, but coach Dave Hakstol went with Sam Gagner, who scored a goal against Chicago, as Umberger’s replacement.
Power play
Tepid start for the Flyers with just one shot on their first opportunity. They got a second power play late in the first period, as Niemi had a pad stop on Michael Raffl, then just got a piece of Simmonds’ rebound on the same play. The Flyers' timing looked off, another casualty of the long break between games.
Penalty kill
The Stars did a good job shutting down the Flyers' power play all night (4 for 4). Defenseman Jason Demers logged 4:56 of shorthanded duty.
Fights
Antoine Roussel tuned up Gagner in the second period. Gagner came to Brayden Schenn’s defense after Roussel’s nasty but clean hit. Yet, officially, it wasn’t a fight even though Roussel landed a couple punches.
Scratches
Same as usual except all are healthy this time. Forwards Umberger, Vinny Lecavalier and defenseman Luke Schenn.
Up next
The Flyers left for Boston after the game and will meet the Bruins on NBC’s Wednesday Night Rivalry.