PHILADELPHIA _ The giddiness of the Flyers' modest three-game unbeaten streak to start the season has given way to concern after a lackluster 4-1 loss to the sagging Dallas Stars on Saturday night.
This wasn't a must-win for the Flyers. It was more like a better-not-lose.
And yet they lost and are now below .500.
Dallas came into the Wells Fargo Center wobbling with a 1-7-1 record and on the second leg of playing on back-to-back nights.
The Flyers were only 2-2-1, but they were in a good mood after hopping the globe for their first five games. They slept in their own beds the last couple of nights and even scored a goal in the first minute.
Coach Alain Vigneault readily admits that he's still getting to know his team and which combinations work best. The Flyers' power play was a large part of the problem. They had 6 minutes, 49 seconds of advantage time and got only six shots.
Sean Couturier opened the scoring by finishing a nice tic-tac-toe play into an open net 43 seconds into the first period. Couturier got his second goal of the season and Travis Konecny and Claude Giroux got the assists, but the rush was set up by a solid puck win by Shayne Gostisbehere in the defensive zone.
That was it for Flyers scoring.
Chris Stewart (6-foot-2, 242) fought with Dallas defenseman Jamie Oleksiak (6-7, 255) in a heavyweight bout. It briefly energized a crowd that was a little salty after watching the Flyers give up two goals in the period.
Red-hot Finnish winger Roope Hintz danced around Matt Niskanen for the first goal and defenseman Esa Lindell scored on the power play off a terrific pass from Denis Gurianov.
It was Gurianov who drew the penalty to give the Stars the advantage when he forced Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim to take a holding penalty by keeping his skates moving.
Did we mention that Dallas came into the game just 1 for 25 on the power play on the season?
Remember these lost two points come April.
The Flyers went through a stretch of 7:32 in the first period without a shot on goal. The Stewart fight gave them no juice.
The Flyers had the better of the chances in the second period but couldn't get anything past Ben Bishop.
Two scary moments: Couturier crashed into the Dallas net and Ivan Provorov nearly took a spill when he tripped over a broken stick. Fortunately, neither player was injured.
Dallas had five shots on goal total in the final two periods and still won. That's almost impossible. The fourth goal was an empty-netter.
Corey Perry had a goal and two assists and was the game's first star.
The Flyers next play Monday, when Vegas visits.
