DALLAS _ The Flyers had a chance Tuesday night to delay a playoff-clinching performance by the Dallas Stars at the sold-out American Airlines Center.
Didn't happen.
Instead, they followed a now-familiar script: Fall behind early and chase the game the rest of the way.
In the game's first 4 minutes, 14 seconds, Dallas scored two goals on its first two shots against Cam Talbot en route to a 6-2 win over the Flyers, who lost for the eighth time in the last 11 games.
Alexander Radulov had two goals and two assists as Dallas took advantage of Flyers defensive breakdowns and secured a Western Conference playoff berth.
Dallas scored two goals _ one on Talbot's poor goaltending, the other after a Shayne Gostisbehere turnover _ 10 seconds apart midway through a Stars-dominated third period to take a 6-2 lead and seal the outcome.
The Flyers fell into a 2-0 hole for the 30th time in 80 games, a whopping 37.5 percent of their schedule. They have won four of those 30 games.
After a miscommunication by Scott Laughton and Jake Voracek on accepting a pass from Ivan Provorov, Jason Dickinson gave Dallas a 1-0 lead with 18:26 left in the first as he ripped a right-circle shot past Talbot, who made his third (and final) start of the season with the Flyers.
Talbot, a prospective free agent July 1, is auditioning for a job next season. He didn't remind anybody of Bernie Parent.
With 15:46 left in the first and the Stars on a power play, rookie defenseman Phil Myers was slow to cover Esa Lindell in front, and his clever redirection got past Talbot to make it 2-0.
The Flyers had a 9-5 shots advantage in the first and had another shot kiss the crossbar.
Oskar Lindblom's 15th goal of the season, scored on a rebound after Nolan Patrick took the puck away on the forecheck and crashed the net, got the Flyers to within 2-1 with 18:47 to go in the second period.
Lindblom is sixth among NHL rookie goal scorers, and Patrick's assist was his first point in nine games.
Twenty-eight seconds after Lindblom's goal, the Flyers appeared to tie it at 2, but the tally was disallowed because of a quick whistle.
With a little over 14 minutes to go in the second, James van Riemsdyk was twice denied in front by goalie Anton Khudobin, as the Stars maintained their 2-1 lead.
But not for long.
Gostisbehere fired a power-play point drive that got past a screened Khudobin with 8:27 remaining in the second, knotting the score at 2-all.
Talbot made his best save of the night when he denied an all-alone Tyler Pitlick in front after he took a feed with 5:35 left in the second.
Dallas however, regained the lead as Radulov took a cross-ice pass from Tyler Seguin (two assists) and beat Talbot with a backhander with 3:21 left in the second. About two minutes later, Pitlick made it 4-2 as he took a pass between Provorov and Travis Sanheim and scored from the slot.
That gave the Stars four goals on just 13 shots. They took a 4-2 lead into the third despite being outshot, 24-13.
The Flyers were coming off a listless 3-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday, a day after they were eliminated from post-season consideration and appeared to have a playoff hangover.
Before Tuesday's game, interim coach Scott Gordon said he wanted to see "a little more intensity around the net. I don't think the Rangers played a particularly good game. It was a game that if we played with a little more intensity, you give yourself a chance at a better result. Getting the official elimination on Saturday and then having the back-to-back is never good."
Neither is playing in Dallas for the Flyers, who have now lost five of their last six games at American Airlines Center.
