PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Owen Tippett scored twice, including a highlight-reel goal late in the third period, Scott Laughton made a penalty shot and the streaking Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Dallas Stars 5-1 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.
Sean Walker and Cam Atkinson also scored for Philadelphia, which outshot Dallas 43-16. Morgan Frost added a pair of assists and Sam Ersson made 15 saves for the Flyers, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Stars.
“We played a helluva hockey game,” said Flyers coach John Tortorella, normally not one to heap praise.
Tippett put an exclamation point on the victory with 5:30 remaining when he spun past defenseman Joel Hanley before firing a backhander past Jake Oettinger’s glove side for a dazzling goal.
“It’s one of those things where you’re kind of spinning and just trying to get it on the net," Tippett said. "I knew if I could get it far side it might catch him off guard. I was more just trying to create an opportunity more than anything.”
Tippett's terrific tally was all the talk afterward.
“I've seen a lot of good goals; I haven't seen one of those in a while,” Tortorella said.
“Any time you see him pick up the puck with speed, you’re on the edge of your seat,” Laughton said. ”It's fun to watch."
Tyler Seguin scored for Dallas, which lost for just the second time in the last six.
“They were really good and we were very bad," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "We were good for the first minute, and then the next 59 minutes they won every race, every puck battle. Just a poor, poor effort.”
Philadelphia entered in second place in the Metropolitan Division and sitting comfortably in a playoff spot. The Flyers are looking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2020.
This season has been a remarkable turnaround for the Flyers, who overhauled their front office after winning just 56 games combined in the last two seasons. Former Flyers Keith Jones and Danny Briere took charge as president and general manager, respectively, and Dan Hilferty was tabbed as the club’s governor.
They termed their approach “A New Era of Orange” and have made it a priority to be transparent with communication to fans and connect with former Flyers, something the club had gone away from before the changes this past offseason.
“Everyone’s buying in, everyone’s contributing in their own way,” Atkinson said.
Tortorella remained, and a combination of established veterans and young upstarts have responded well to his demanding style in his second season at the helm.
“It's probably one of the better games we've played,” Tortorella said. “I'm happy for them.”
Walker started the scoring with one minute left in the first period, beating Oettinger on the blocker side after getting all alone following a stellar, between-the-legs pass from Frost from the boards to the slot.
The Flyers went ahead by two goals 3:30 into the second when Tippett notched his 12th by firing a wrist shot over Oettinger’s right shoulder following a faceoff win by Sean Couturier.
Philadelphia was dominant through the first 26 1/2 minutes, registering 21 of the first 22 shots. Dallas didn’t get its second shot on goal until 13:48 remaining in the second when Esa Lindell got in close on Ersson.
“It’s a humbling loss,” DeBoer said. "We haven’t been beat that badly in all facets of the game like that this year. That’s one that’s going to sting for a couple days.”
Dallas got on the board with 7:18 to play in the second when Seguin stole the puck from Walker deep in Philadelphia’s zone, then shot high over Ersson for his 17th goal.
Oettinger, playing in his fourth straight game after missing 12 in a row with a groin injury, made 38 saves. The Dallas netminder kept it a one-goal contest with several strong stops in the second, denying Walker from close range and gloving Frost's wrist shot through traffic on a Philadelphia power play.
Philadelphia notched a rare power-play goal 44 seconds into the third when Atkinson scored from close range. Philadelphia, which entered last in the NHL on the man-advantage, recorded just its 18th power-play goal of the season.
Laughton scored on a penalty shot with 10:44 left after being pulled down on a breakaway attempt by Hanley.
“I wasn’t thinking much, just tried to make a move on a big guy,” Laughton said.
UP NEXT
Stars: At New Jersey to face the Devils on Saturday night.
Flyers: Play the second game of four-game homestand Saturday against Colorado.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Aaron Bracy, The Associated Press
