Note: For a full Stars-Flyers game recap see the report on the Flyers' postgame blog.
Winners of four straight games, including each of the first three games of their current four-game road trip through Florida (Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers) and Pennsylvania (Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins), the Dallas Stars have done a good job at dictating the pace of most of their recent games and battling through adversity when it arises.
Right now, the Stars' top line duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin is scorching hot offensively. When those two players get on a roll, it tends to last for prolonged streteches of games, and that happened again in the Stars' 2-1 win in Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
Shared-time goaltenders Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen have both played well in the early going of the season. Niemi was outstanding in his 34-save performance in Philadelphia, following strong performances by Lehtonen in each of the three previous games.
Although the Stars are not known as a strong defensive team, they have been trending overall in the right direction. In the third period of Tuesday's game, the Stars perhaps gave up a little too much real estate to Philadelphia while protecting a two-goal lead -- they ended up needing Niemi to make 14 third-period saves on 15 shots, one of which was a rebound that bounced into the net off the skate of Flyers' center Sean Couturier -- but that is hardly uncommon in the NHL in that circumstance.
With the Stars going so well right now, it seems unlikely that head coach Lindy Ruff will make any significant changes to his lineup. For right now, young defensemen Patrik Nemeth and Jamie Oleksiak -- neither of whom have dressed for a regular season game to date -- are likely to remain healthy scratches.
NOTES:
* It is always a pleasure to talk to Dallas Morning News beat writer Mike Heika and to the Stars' PR/media staff, which is easily one of the best in the league. Between the Flyers staff and the Stars, it is easy to feel a little spoiled. Not every team staff is nearly as accomodating, helpful and approachable as the ones in Philly and Dallas.
* Tuesday's game was the first back in Philadelphia for new Stars goaltending coach Jeff Reese, who resigned from his post as Flyers' goaltending coach on March 6. After the morning skate, Ruff said he was impressed by the way that Reese "hardens the shell" around the goalies with whom he works.
* Ruff, who hails from the same tiny hometown (Warburg, Alberta) as new Flyers' head coach Dave Hakstol, joked before the game that the town is "a coaching hotbed."
For his part, Hakstol admitted that Ruff was someone whom he has always followed with interest. "Lindy's a guy that since I was young everybody in our town looked up to. As a kid, I remember when he was a first-round pick and when he played his first games in the league," said Hakstol.
* The blueline duo of John Klingberg and Alex Goligoski played a strong game against Philadelphia. The players logged 22:37 and 22:56 of ice time respectively.