Stars pick up point in OT loss to cap road trip

The Dallas Stars couldn't pick up two points in the finale of their four-game road trip, but they did get one in a hard-fought, tightly-played 2-1 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night.
But the second point was up for grabs and penalties proved costly for the Stars. Both Flyers goals came on the power play, including the game-winner by Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere 3:50 into overtime. With Stars forward Alexander Radulov in the penalty box for hooking, Gostisbehere rifled a shot into the net from the slot to give the Flyers the extra point.

WATCH: [All Stars vs. Flyers highlights]
"Two really poor penalties by a really good player," said Stars coach Ken Hitchcock. "It's not team discipline; it's individual. It's disappointing. To fight like we fought and battle coming off a back-to-back, it's really disappointing."
Radulov, who also took a high-sticking penalty in the third period with the game tied 1-1, accepted responsibility after the game.
"It's disappointing," Radulov said. "It's on me today. I couldn't take those penalties. You got to deal with your emotions. Sometimes you get elbowed in the face and you don't get calls. I got frustrated and took stupid penalties. I put my team on their knees, can't do that. I take responsibility for that and make sure it never happens again."

On Friday, New Jersey's game-winning goal in the 5-2 win over the Stars also came on the power play. The Stars were shorthanded 11 times over the final two games of the trip, both losses.
"To give yourself a chance to win you've got to stay out of the penalty box," said Stars captain Jamie Benn. "Take however many penalties tonight, and two power-play goals and that shoots you in the butt.
"They won the game because of that."
Ben Bishop, making his first start since last Saturday, was superb in goal for the Stars. He stopped 28 of 30 shots and was key in helping the Stars get one point.
"He was outstanding," said Hitchcock. "If he plays like this, this gives us a chance to win every night."

Gemel Smith scored the lone goal for the Stars, who went 2-1-1 (five points) on the road trip and are now 18-14-2 on the season.
"The positive out of this is that our role players did exactly what they needed to do," said Hitchcock. "Our role players were outstanding, and that's what's led to good team play five-on-five. We need the impact players to get up another gear. … We can't continue to have the role players on the hockey club carry the hockey club. We need more from the people, you know exactly who I'm talking about, they need to come through to carry us to the next level."
Gostisbehere scored both goals for the Flyers -- both on the power play -- and Brian Elliott stopped 27 shots as Philadelphia (14-11-7) won its sixth straight game.
"Our mentality was to keep pushing all 60," said Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov. "They're coming off I think it's the third game in four nights and keep pressing with every shift. We knew they were going to break eventually."
The Stars scored the only goal of the first period, getting a tally from the fourth line. Remi Elie won a race to a Martin Hanzal dump-in and made a slick pass to Smith, who scored from the right circle to give the Stars a 1-0 lead 7:13 into the game.

The Flyers had the better of play in the second period and tied the game on their third power play of the night. With Tyler Pitlick in the box for roughing, Bishop made several big stops, including a great one on a point-blank bid by Wayne Simmonds, but Gostisbehere scored on a rebound off the end boards to make it a 1-1 game at 9:10 of the second.
The Flyers had a great opportunity to take the lead later in the second, but forward Travis Konecny lost control of the puck on a breakaway and his backhand attempt went wide.
The Stars' penalty kill came up big in the third period, stopping two Philadelphia power plays and allowing no shots on goal to keep it a 1-1 game.
The Stars had a great chance to break the tie in the third, but Pitlick shot wide on a breakaway. The game went to overtime where Radulov got called for hooking and Gostisbehere scored on the power play to give the Flyers the win.
"You got to look at the positive there," said Bishop. "I think getting the five points in these four games is something positive moving forward."

Notes

What's Next

The Stars return home for a three-game homestand taking on Washington (Tuesday), Chicago (Thursday), and Nashville (Saturday). The Stars play nine of their next 10 games at American Airlines Center, where they are 10-4-0 this season.

Stars Lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Devin Shore
Mattias Janmark - Jason Spezza - Alexander Radulov
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Remi Elie - Martin Hanzal - Gemel Smith
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns - Julius Honka
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Scratched: Jamie Oleksiak, Brett Ritchie
Injured: Marc Methot (knee)

Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter at @StarsInsideEdge.