Stars halt Flyers' win streak at 10
DALLAS -- The Philadelphia Flyers streak finally came to an end.
The Dallas Stars ended the Flyers 10-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory at American Airlines Center on Saturday.
Adam Cracknell scored the game-winning goal early in the third period and Antti Niemi made 31 saves for the Stars. It was Philadelphia's first loss since Nov. 25 against the New York Rangers.
Taylor Leier scored his first career NHL goal at 16:44 of the first period when he scored on a rebound and gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.
Nick Cousins took the initial shot before Leier beat Stars defenseman John Klingberg to the rebound.
Radek Faksa tied the game 1-1 on a rebound at 4:48 of the second period. It was Faksa's fourth goal of the season and Antoine Roussel had the primary assist after he took the initial shot.
Faksa's goal came minutes after Jason Spezza and Brandon Manning fought near the Flyers' net. It was Spezza's first fight since March 3, 2009 and only the fifth of his career.
Both goalies made key stops in the second period.
Steve Mason made two point-blank saves on Brett Ritchie, while Antti Niemi stopped Claude Giroux on a slap shot from the slot with under two minutes remaining in the middle stanza.
Cracknell gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 2:27 of the third period on a rebound shot. Cracknell scored his fourth goal of the season after a point shot by John Klingberg, who had his 13th assist of the season. Tyler Seguin had the secondary assist.
Faksa almost scored his second goal of the game with 13:07 remaining, but his shot was gloved down by Mason.
Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov nearly tied the game when he hit the crossbar on a wrist shot at 10:08 of the third period.
Jordie Benn scored into the empty to give Dallas a 3-1 lead.
Mason made 25 saves.
NOTES: Stars center Cody Eakin missed Saturday's game, serving the first game of a four-games suspension for charging New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist on Thursday. ... Curtis McKenzie returned to the Stars' lineup after missing back-to-back games because of an upper-body injury. ... The Stars scratched defensemen Jamie Oleksiak and Patrik Nemeth. ... The Flyers scratched center Boyd Gordon and defenseman Nick Schultz. ... Flyers defenseman Mark Streit was scratched because of a shoulder injury. ... G Antti Niemi made his third straight start for Dallas.