Stars und Sternchen! » 2-23-2 when trailing after two periods. … Suter str

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jake Voracek thought he wasn’t very good for most of the first two periods. The Flyers were plenty happy with his performance.“You guys have to watch the game a little bit more Vancouver Canucks T-Shirts Authentic , you know what I mean,” Voracek said. “It’s not only about points.”Voracek scored the go-ahead goal and added two assists, and Philadelphia finally played some solid defense in a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.Voracek, who was demoted from the Flyers’ top line, took a loose puck at center ice and kept it himself on a 2-on-1 breakaway, beating Keith Kinkaid for his third goal of the season to put the Flyers ahead 3-2 with 3:10 remaining.“I was thinking pass all the way,” Voracek said. “But their defenseman played tight to that side, and when I decided to shoot I was too close to the goalie, so I had to do something — and it worked.”Earlier, Voracek stripped Will Butcher and made a cross-ice pass to Nolan Patrick for a tap-in goal that put the Flyers ahead 2-1 with about a minute left in the second period. Voracek added his second assist on Scott Laughton’s empty-netter.“I’m glad his expectations are high,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “He’s playing some really good hockey right now. With his dynamics he can change the look of a hockey game. … If he wants to do more, that’s good. … Hey, we’re .500, so everybody has got to be a little bit better.”Travis Konecny also scored a goal and Wayne Simmonds added an empty-netter of his own for the Flyers, who limited the Devils to just 21 shots. Philadelphia had allowed four goals or more in five of its first seven games.Brian Elliott, who was pulled after giving up four goals to the Florida Panthers last Tuesday Vancouver Canucks Hoodies Authentic , bounced back to make 19 saves and earn his second win of the season.Damon Severson and Brian Boyle scored for the Devils, who have lost two straight games after winning their first four. Kinkaid made 16 saves.“To lose a game against a good team on the road, it was casual,” Boyle said. “Yeah, it’s disappointing, but we gotta get better. All of us could be better. Everybody who goes on that bench, for every game we got to be ready to go, need to be dialed in. It’s really disappointing.”Konecny scored the Flyers’ first goal with a wrist shot from the right circle on a power play, his second goal of the season after going without a goal in his first six games. It was the first goal this season from Philadelphia’s second power-play unit.Simmonds’ goal was his team-leading sixth of the season.Severson put the Devils ahead just over four minutes into the game.Boyle tied it for New Jersey with a power-play goal early in the third period. Hakstol challenged the goal, citing goaltender interference, and although Kyle Palmieri’s skate was in the crease and made contact with Elliott’s stick, replay officials ruled the contact was incidental and let the goal stand.“We don’t win many challenges here,” Elliott said. “So I wasn’t surprised.”NOTES: The Devils have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their six games. … This was the Devils’ first true road game of the season, although they played their season opener in Sweden against the Edmonton Oilers. … Hakstol juggled his defensive pairings in-game, breaking up his top pairing of Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere for the first time in nearly a year. The Flyers entered play Saturday with the second-most goals allowed in the league. … Patrick returned to the Flyers’ lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury, replacing Corban Knight Vancouver Canucks Hats Authentic , who played in his first NHL game last Thursday.UP NEXTDevils: Get four days off before hosting the Nashville Predators on Thursday.Flyers: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. The Flyers lost 5-2 on their lone visit to Denver earlier this month. ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Matt Dumba and the Minnesota Wild started a defining two-game stretch against the Dallas Stars with a determined performance.They’re one step closer to a spot in the playoffs.”That was what fueled the fire, just wanting to bury these guys,” Dumba said. ”Not let them think that they could potentially get back into this thing by getting a couple victories against us.”Dumba scored on a power play and finished with three assists for a career-high four points, leading the Wild past the fading Stars 5-2 on Thursday night.”It’s something we talked about, making that gap even bigger and pushing more teams down,” said Zach Parise, who scored 59 seconds after Dumba in the second period and tacked on an empty-netter in the waning seconds.Mikael Granlund sparked the Wild with a short-handed goal in the first period , set up by the first of two assists by Ryan Suter, and Jason Zucker scored on a power play with 11 seconds left before the second intermission.Even more important than Granlund’s goal was the effort by the Wild that immediately followed it.Tyler Seguin had set up Benn in the slot for the lead for the Stars less than three minutes into the game, and a high-stick double-minor penalty on Wild defenseman Ryan Murphy produced a four-minute power play. Granlund scored just 12 seconds in, and the Wild penalty killers took over from there.”It was a big turning point, and it gave us a lot of life,” coach Bruce Boudreau said.Jamie Benn and Devin Shore scored for the Stars, who have lost eight straight road games, including six in regulation. They’re just 1-7-2 in their past 10 games overall Custom Vancouver Canucks Jerseys , staggering into position for the knockout punch to their postseason hope. They host a rematch with the Wild on Saturday night.With only four games remaining, the Stars are five points behind current wild-card spot holders St. Louis and Anaheim in the Western Conference standings. The Blues have six games left, and the Ducks play five more times. The Stars also trail ninth-place Colorado by four points, with five games to go for the Avalanche.”Every mistake we made ended up in our net, and the chances we had we didn’t finish on,” Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said, adding: ”We’re going to compete at a very high level, and then the autopsy for us can take place.”Devan Dubnyk stopped 29 shots for the Wild, who improved to 26-6-8 at home for the second-most points in the NHL. With five games to go, they’re up six points on the Avalanche in the race to clinch an appearance in the playoffs for the sixth straight year.Dumba, who set a career high with his 12th goal on a blistering one-timer , and Zucker gave the Wild’s power play a badly needed boost. They had only one goal in their previous 26 opportunities until the sizzling second period. The Stars, meanwhile, were left shaking their heads about the opportunities they handed the Wild.”I had a bonehead shot there on the penalty kill,” Seguin said, referring to the sequence before Zucker scored. ”I can’t shoot far-side short-handed www.officialcapitals.com , and they go down and score. That’s a tough play.”NOTESDumba became the first Wild defenseman with four points in a game in franchise history. … Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, who has missed the past seven games with a torn right hamstring, could start skating next week, Boudreau said before the game. Wild defenseman Gustav Olofsson left with an upper-body injury and was declared questionable to travel to Dallas. … The Stars fell to 2-23-2 when trailing after two periods. … Suter stretched his career high and franchise record to 45 assists. … Stars defenseman Stephen Johns was being evaluated for a concussion after leaving in the first period with the injury. … Zucker has three goals and two assists in three games against the Stars this season. … Granlund’s was the 10th short-handed goal allowed by the Stars to match the second-most in the league this season. … Granlund scored for the first time in 15 games since Feb. 27. … Seguin has 27 points in 23 games against the Wild. … Announced attendance was 19,350, the largest of the season for the Wild.UP NEXTStars: After the rematch with Minnesota, Dallas must wrap up the schedule on the West Coast with games at San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles.Wild: Following the quick trip to Dallas, Minnesota plays its final regular-season home game on Monday against Edmonton. Then the Wild finish the schedule with the same three California road games the Stars have, against the Ducks, Kings and Sharks.—