Pavelski has 3 points, Stars gain in Central with win against Flyers

DALLAS -- Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

Pavelski, who has scored in five straight games, is one point away from 1,000 in the NHL.
"A lot of hockey, a lot of good times, good memories," Pavelski said. "Still got to get there. You don't think about those things early on. You go through the whole process of trying to make a team, trying to stay there, trying to establish yourself, then even as you do establish yourself, you're still trying to build your game and keep it at a high level. It all adds up along the way."

Jason Robertson scored two goals, and Jake Oettinger made 24 saves for the Stars (43-21-14), who have won four of their past five games.
Dallas moved two points ahead of the Minnesota Wild for second place in the Central Division after Minnesota lost 4-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. The Stars are two points back of the Colorado Avalanche, who have one game in hand, for first.
"We obviously want to finish at the top," Stars forward Wyatt Johnston said. "Obviously, Saturday's a big game (against the Vegas Golden Knights), especially when you look at the standings. We want to finish on top, not only of the division, but the conference. It's definitely exciting just battling for position this time of year."
Kevin Hayes scored, and Carter Hart made 26 saves for the Flyers (29-36-13), who have lost five straight (0-4-1).
"Played a good first period, [but we got] real unlucky at the end them going up 1-0," Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. "Second period, too many men on the ice right away, in our net. Another one of their goals, [Ivan Provorov] wants [Hart] to leave it. He doesn't hear it, he moves it, turnover, in our net. That little surge there where we kind of fueled it, a little bit of self-destruction, that was the game."

Robertson gave Dallas a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 19:58 of the first period. He skated through the neutral zone before scoring from the left circle over the left shoulder of Hart after his initial shot was blocked by Nick Seeler.
"I think particularly with how we played in the first, I thought we were flat," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "Took two penalties and we were killing for four minutes of the period. We just didn't have much going on [until] that goal. Even on that power play, I didn't think we had much going on until [Robertson] went down. That's what he does."
Pavelski made it 2-0 with another power-play goal at 1:04 of the second period. Miro Heiskanen's slap pass hit off Jamie Benn's stick in the low slot before deflecting in off Pavelski's stick.
Colin Miller extended the lead to 3-0 at 8:53, scoring blocker side from the high slot off a drop pass from Johnston.
Robertson made it 4-0 at 10:55 with a quick shot from the left hash marks after Pavelski stole the puck from Provorov behind the net.
"I felt fine," said Hart, who missed the previous five games with a lower-body injury. "Obviously, I screw up behind the net there. Make a bad play to [Provorov] and put him in a bad spot, and it ends up in the back the net. Other than that, I thought we were in the game for most of the night."

Hayes cut it to 4-1 at 13:16 of the second with a one-timer from a sharp angle off a pass from Owen Tippett from behind the net.
"They're a good team," Hayes said. "They got four guys on the rush, and I thought they took advantage of that early on in the game. Gave us a couple of fits. You dig yourself that deep of a hole, it's tough to come out in this league."
NOTES: Pavelski, a seventh-round pick (No. 205) by the San Jose Sharks in the 2003 NHL Draft, has 999 points (447 goals, 552 assists) in 1,246 games. … Robertson has 103 points (45 goals, 58 assists) in 78 games this season. Only Bobby Smith (114 points in 1981-82), Dino Ciccarelli (106 in 1981-82) and Neal Broten (105 in 1985-86) have had more in a season in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history.