[Drew]

INCONSISTENCY CONTINUES

(Philadelphia, PA - PhiladelphiaFlyers.com) – Marty Turco stopped 17 of 18 shots as the Dallas Stars exploded for three goals in the second period to down the Flyers by a score of 4-1 on Saturday night at the Wachovia Center.

After winning their first six games at home, the Flyers have now dropped their last five contests on home ice leaving them with a 14-9-2 record for 30 points and yielding first place in the Atlantic Division to the New York Rangers, who defeated the Ottawa Senators earlier today.

“You can’t come out and have a great effort and then a well below average effort, it just doesn’t work,” said Head Coach John Stevens when asked about the inconsistent play of the team. “There are just too many teams that are ready to pass you by and too many teams that are in striking distance. The league is too good not to bring your best every night.”

Brendan Morrow and defenseman Trevor Daley each had two assists, while four different players recorded goals for Dallas, who held the Flyers to just 10 shots on goal through the first two periods of play and outshot Philly 30 to 18 in the contest.

“I think the biggest thing is looking in the mirror and looking at ourselves first,” commented Danny Briere on the Flyers struggles at home. “When things go bad and you are trying to break a cycle, we are trying to find what the problem is. I think part of what [Stevens] is saying is you have to look at yourself in the mirror and not wait for somebody else to do the job and take ownership and do your part.”

After Jeff Halpern tied things up in the first period, Jussi Jokinen scored 1:42 seconds into the second frame to record the Stars’ second straight goal off a deflection from a shot at the side of the net.

Playing with a two-goal lead, Dallas took advantage off a couple of Flyers penalties as Antti Miettinen circled around the face off dot and snapped a shot past Martin Biron to give the Stars their first power-play goal of the night and first in their last three games.

“I thought we skated very well because we drew the penalties and it’s one thing to draw them and get momentum off drawing them, but when you’re scoring on them that’s a key part of the game,” commented Stars’ Head Coach Dave Tippett on the Stars second period success. “There are parts of the game we had to maximize our energy and special teams were one of them. I thought we did a very good job.”

With Ben Eager sitting out two minutes in the penalty box for charging, Mike Ribiero scored his 11th goal of the year to give the Stars a three-goal advantage after sliding the puck into the open net while Biron skated out of the crease in an attempt to poke check the puck away from the Dallas forward.

The night started out in the Flyers favor as R.J. Umberger took a pass down the right side into the Stars' zone and threw the puck at the net where Randy Jones was pinching in from the point and knocked it past Turco just 49 seconds into the game.

Dallas shut the door on the Flyers for a scoreless third period, however the game did not end without incident as Flyers enforcer Riley Cote was given a five minute major and match penalty for his hit on Dallas defenseman Matt Niskanen.

With the loss, Philadelphia remains winless against the Stars in its last five contests, going 0-2-3. The Flyers' last win over Dallas came on Dec. 20, 2001.

The Flyers have the next three days off as their next game comes on Dec. 5 when they take on the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis at 8 p.m. ET on CN8. The Flyers have won three straight on the road with each win coming against division-leading opponents.

FLYERS NOTES:
With an assist on Randy Jones’ goal in the first period, Mike Richards extended his scoring streak to five games and added to his now 10-game scoring streak at home… The Flyers dropped their record to 11-2-1 in games where they have scored the first goal… The Flyers were held scoreless in the second period for the first time in the last 10 games... The victory by Dallas marks the first regulation win in the last nine games for the Stars at Philadelphia, who previously had a 2-0-6 record.

[dudebeer]

well...that about sums up that effort. drew u were at game, what did u think?stevens get these boys on the same page more often, cause they are the jekyl and hyde of the nhl, and richards is class act, still playin to prove something, even when he has some off games. They are so up and down that I still hope more time ( and a healed gagne by new yearish) can bring these guys together. that was a very blah game, and what is with this shot issue, like 24-10 after 2 periods, game out of hand, cmon. could be a long year boys, I sure hope not though.

[Drew]

Luckily I didn't have to pay full price for the seats I was in (row 3 right behind the net) at this game. My friend, Los, got them from a guy he works with.

Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Where is the consistency? How can they dominate Carolina 3 times this season, knock off the Sens, and have 3 days of rest versus a team that gave its all the night before against the Devils and come out flat.

The first goal was a fluke - bad angle shot that snuck under Turco's pad - I was right there. Best seats I've ever had - worst performance I may have ever seen. Thank god the beer man kept us in our seats, because if I had to walk up several times for refills, I may have just walked right out of the building.

The effects of Gagne not playing are starting to hurt too. He certainly opens up the ice for the rest of his line. But I'm not making any excuses. That game last night was just brutal.

I'll get Los's photos from his camera soon.

[Metalpuck]

What the fuck....we're definitely not last years team by any means even losing. We looked tired and unaggressive last night....it was so strange and very frustrating. We're losing because we're beating ourselves. There's no other reason and if i was in that locker room after the game i would've screamed that. We're waaay better than the fuckin' Rags and now last night's loss puts us two points behind those fucks. If i'm swearing too much i apologize its just retarded seeing a different team on the ice than the game before.