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Seguin shines as Stars slam Flyers

Dec 8, 2013 - 12:02 AM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Tyler Seguin recorded a natural hat trick in the second period and finished with four points, as Dallas downed Philadelphia, 5-1, at American Airlines Center.

The 21-year-old's outburst marked his first goals since exploding for four in a 7-3 win at Calgary on Nov. 14, and came in his second game back from a concussion.

Valeri Nichushkin added a goal and three assists for the Stars, who had dropped five of seven coming in.

"I felt Val played awesome tonight. When he's competing and you see a little fire in him he's a different player than when he's just going through the motions," Seguin said of his linemate. "When you look at the first few games in this league and the last nine or 10, he's definitely transitioned well."

Cody Eakin contributed a score, Alex Goligoski picked up two helpers and Dan Ellis stopped 27 shots as the hosts ended a six-game losing skid to their Saturday afternoon foes.

Andrej Meszaros provided the sole offense for the Flyers, who fell to 2-2-0 on their current six-game road trip and played without co-leading goal scorer Vincent Lecavalier for the third straight time.

Steve Mason allowed four goals for the first time since arriving in Philly and was pulled after making 22 stops in two periods. Ray Emery finished with seven saves in the final 20 minutes.

"Yeah, we can play with these kinds types of teams," said Flyers captain Claude Giroux of his team coming off a 6-3 win in Detroit on Wednesday. "We just need to focus more and how we've got to play for 60 minutes. If we would've done that we would've been fine."

Dallas moved ahead inside of three minutes left in the second, as Nichushkin fed Seguin for his second straight tally, a shot through traffic from the slot.

The hosts went ahead 3-1 only 40 seconds later when Seguin's try from the right-wing boards appeared to be tipped in front by Jamie Benn, but play was later stopped and the hat-trick goal awarded to the shooter. On the next shift, Seguin left a drop pass while skating up the middle, and Nichushkin wristed his chance home to the far side for a three-goal spread.

"I'm pretty happy, who wouldn't be?" said Stars head coach Lindy Ruff of the deciding three-goal burst in 62 seconds. "It's always a relief and anytime you can kind of relax a little bit by getting some offensive support that's always a positive. The way the guys jammed them home tonight and really put the pressure on, we stuck with it."

In the third, Philly let one chance with the advantage go by the wayside, then Eakin converted a 2-on-1 short-handed chance with 4:33 remaining to account for the final score.

The Stars wasted a golden opportunity to blow open the game early, given a seven-minute power play at the outset after Zac Rinaldo was kicked out of the game for jumping Antoine Roussel.

Dallas put five shots on Mason but he was equal to all of them.

"I don't know, ask him," was Flyers head coach Craig Berube's claim when asked what was behind the surprise attack. "Obviously he went out there and punched him in the head a few times. It was stupid."

After killing off a subsequent minor, the Flyers picked up the game's first goal with 1:09 left in the opening period. Wayne Simmonds carried up the right wing and put the puck on net while avoiding a diving defender. The disc settled at Ellis' right pad where Meszaros poked it home.

Seguin's redirect of a Benn pass at the right post evened the score 39 seconds into the middle period, but Mason made stops on Ray Whitney, Eakin and Roussel in succession through the midpoint to keep it an even score.

Game Notes

Seguin's feat was the first natural hat trick for the franchise since Mike Ribeiro turned the trick on Jan. 21, 2009 against Florida ... The Stars won their first game over the Flyers since a 4-1 decision in Philadelphia on Dec. 1, 2007, and posted their first home win against their opponents since a 3-2 score on March 13, 2007 ... Philadelphia had won three straight in Dallas, but fell to 4-6-3 all-time in Texas ... Rinaldo was given 27 penalty minutes for just four seconds of ice time ... Fredrik Modin was the last player to record three straight goals against the Flyers, in a 6-0 Lightning win on Jan. 28, 2006 ... Philly forwards Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Jakub Voracek combined for no points and a collective minus-9 rating.