Shayne Gostisbehere Leads Flyers to Season-high Winning Streak

BOX SCORE

The wins just keep on coming.

The Flyers on Saturday night extended their season-high winning streak to six games with a 2-1 overtime win over the Dallas Stars after Shayne Gostisbehere scored the game-winning goal just seconds into a power play.

Gostisbehere scored both of the Flyers' goals with the man advantage. His first power-play goal was the Flyers' first home power-play goal since Nov. 18, snapping an 0-for-20 drought.

The OT victory also snapped the Flyers' seven-game losing skid in games ending after regulation.

Brian Elliott, who made his seventh straight start, stopped 26 of 27 shots.

Former Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock was looking for his 800th career win.

• It was a rather interesting start to the game, as Claude Giroux and Jamie Benn got tangled up at center ice between the two benches. Benn extended his glove underneath Giroux's chin and a lot of pushing and shoving ensued. Both guys went off for roughing minors.

• During the matching penalties, the Flyers dominated the 4-on-4 play. First, the Flyers' fourth line had an extended possession, though Travis Konecny tried to create a play on his own and wound up with a very low percentage shot near the blue line. The Flyers' best opportunity came when Wayne Simmonds worked a beautiful give-and-go with Sean Couturier that resulted in Simmonds having a break.

• The Stars struck first with their fourth line when Gemel Smith beat Elliott on a one-timer to the far post. The Flyers had enough men back on defense, but they lost coverage when Scott Laughton was caught puck watching and didn't cover the backside pass. By the time Laughton realized it, he was a step behind. Not a good goal to give up, but the Stars have a pretty effective fourth line. 

• Tensions rose again when Dan Hamhuis grabbed Simmonds after firing a shot, and as Couturier came to his defense, he gave Hamhuis a subtle jab that resulted in a two-minute roughing, which negated a Flyers power play after just 30 seconds. Hamhuis appeared to have embellished when he launched his head backward. A no-call should have been the way to go.

• The Stars' combo of Jason Spezza and Alexander Radulov had some effective zone time and took advantage of the Flyers' third defensive pairing of Travis Sanheim and Radko Gudas. Radulov drew a penalty when he made a move past Valtteri Filppula, who reached out and tripped up Radulov. The Stars generated two power-play shots, including one that Elliott appeared to glove after it had been deflected.

• Twenty-five minutes into the game and there wasn't much open ice at all. It was tight checking with both teams clogging up the middle and disrupting the passing lanes. Even when the Flyers turned the puck over, they were able to minimize the damage.

• The Flyers' power play finally got on the board after they were buzzing all over the Stars' net. After Ben Bishop came up with a remarkable save on Simmonds at point-blank range, the Flyers threw everything at Bishop as a result of their quick puck movement, which kept the Stars' penalty killers out for an extended shift. The hard work paid off when Gostisbehere cut backdoor and cleaned up a backside rebound off the boards. One of the Flyers' best all-around power-play efforts of the season.

"We were putting everything we had but the kitchen sink at the net," Gostisbehere said after the second period. "We missed a couple of shots, but they were banking off the boards pretty good and thankfully, I was there to clean it up."

• Gostisbehere came right back and sprung Jakub Voracek on a breakaway with a heads-up two-line stretch pass. Voracek elected to go forehand, but his shot went a foot wide.

• Konecny's scoring frustrations continued when he broke in all alone off a feed from Michael Raffl. Konecny chose to cut across the crease and fire a backhand, but his shot went wide. Konecny could have brought the puck wide to his forehand, creating a better 2-on-0 opportunity with Raffl, but you could see Konecny is more desperate to score a goal.

• The Stars had a matchup advantage late in the second period when a line of Benn, Spezza and Radulov was matched up against the Flyers' fourth line and third defensive pair. As the Stars entered the zone, Sanheim was turned around and fell to the ice. Sanheim's partner, Gudas, hit the deck and broke up a centering pass with his stick. The Flyers finally survived and were able to dump it out of the zone.

• The Flyers' third line of Jordan Weal, Nolan Patrick and Jordan Weal had a strong opening shift to begin the third period. They logged about 30 seconds in the Stars' zone and generated a couple of shots on Bishop.

• Sanheim is usually good for one defensive gaffe per game. The Stars and Lance Pitlick caught Sanheim flat-footed when the puck was lofted high, up and out of the Dallas zone. That resulted in Pitlick blowing past Sanheim and attempting a backhanded breakaway play that went wide of the Flyers' net, similar to Konecny's in the second period.

Lines, pairings and scratches
Forwards
Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl-Valtteri Filppula-Jakub Voracek
Jordan Weal-Nolan Patrick-Dale Weise
Taylor Leier-Scott Laughton-Travis Konecny

Defense
Ivan Provorov-Andrew MacDonald
Robert Hagg-Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim-Radko Gudas

Goalies
Brian Elliott
Alex Lyon

Scratches: Forward Jori Lehtera and Mark Alt. Both were healthy.