Claude Giroux picked up right where he left off.

Giroux returned from a four-game absence due to a concussion and had a goal and three assists as the Philadelphia Flyers polished off the Dallas Stars 4-1 at American Airlines Center on Thursday night.

"I had a lot of fun just playing," Giroux said. "It was a fun game and important to get those two points."

Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves as the Flyers (21-8-4) ended a two-game losing streak.

"What a huge win for our organization tonight," Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette said. "We get one of our top players back and a chance to move into first overall in the Eastern Conference."

Giroux had a goal and an assist in the first period and an assist in each of the final two periods to reclaim the NHL scoring lead with 43 points. He had been out since Dec. 10 when he was kneed in the head by teammate Wayne Simmonds and was termed a game-time decision by Laviolette this morning.

"He's clearly established himself as the top player in the League," Laviolette said.

Philadelphia improved to 13-3-2 away from home, the best road record in the NHL.

While Giroux's return was clearly the story of the night, it was the Stars who struck first. Only 56 seconds into the game, Dallas led 1-0 after Michael Ryder beat Bobrovsky high on the glove side with a 30-foot wrister from the top of the left circle.

Dallas (19-13-1) held that lead until Giroux scored his 17th goal of the season at 8:30. He knocked in a rebound at the far post after a shot by Jaromir Jagr was stopped by Dallas goaltender Richard Bachman, tying the game at 1-1.

Just 45 seconds after the Stars' Vernon Fiddler was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct midway through the period, Giroux assisted on a power-play tally by Simmonds at 11:36 to give the Flyers their first lead. Kimmo Timonen's long-range slapper was deflected into the back of the Dallas net by Simmonds for his 10th goal of the season.

"I think [after Dallas' early goal] we just started to relax, play our game, get on the forecheck and make sure we don't do any mistakes out there," Giroux said.

Philadelphia took a two-goal lead at 8:00 in the second period thanks to a power-play goal by Jagr. Just 21 seconds after Souray was whistled for slashing, Jagr and Giroux executed a give-and-go to perfection with Jagr finishing the sequence by beating Bachman with a wrister from the slot that the rookie goaltender had little chance of stopping.

It was the 657th goal of his career, moving him past Brendan Shanahan for 11th all-time.

Another story of the second period was the 42 penalty minutes amassed by both clubs. Dallas had a pair of 10-minute misconducts, one to Adam Burish and another to captain Brenden Morrow, while the Flyers' Tom Sestito was whistled for a similar infraction after a pre-faceoff confrontation with Burish.

Those penalties came following an incident after the first period when Laviolette shoved Dallas agitator Steve Ott in the back as the teams headed to their locker rooms.

Laviolette downplayed the incident afterward.

"I think it's hockey out on the ice," he said. "We just had a big win to move back into first place in the Eastern Conference. We should probably keep it about the game because it was such a big win."

The Flyers added an insurance goal at 5:22 of the third period when defenseman Andrej Meszaros scored his fourth goal of the season, burying a 15-foot wrister that beat Bachman on the blocker side. Giroux got the primary assist on the tally, feeding Meszaros as he was streaking up the left side of the ice towards the Dallas net.

For the game, Philadelphia was 2-for-5 on the power play, a performance which their coach was clearly pleased with.

'The power play was excellent tonight," Laviolette said. "They moved the puck. There was a lot of zone time. They did a good job moving it around. We haven't had a lot of time to work on it but we touched on it a little bit and I thought it was real effective tonight."

Denver - Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 37 shots and Jay McClement scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night for their seventh straight home win.

Paul Stastny and Cody McLeod also scored for the Avalanche and Matt Hunwick, Kevin Porter and Shane O'Brien each had an assist. Colorado has won seven consecutive at home for the first time since 2003.

Brian Elliott made 19 saves and David Backes and Chris Stewart scored for the Blues, who lost in regulation for just the second time the last 13 games.

The score was tied late in the second period when a pile-up in front of the St. Louis net produced the winning goal. McClement's backhand was blocked by defenseman Alex Pietrangelo but the puck went over the line as Pietrangelo and forward Matt D'Agostini slid into Elliott and knocked the net off its moorings with 5:53 left in the period.

There was no goal indication on the ice but after a review McClement was credited with his sixth of the year.

Elliott went off for an extra attacker with 1:06 left but St. Louis couldn't tie it again.

The Blues trailed 2-0 after the first period but got even in the second. Backes got St. Louis on the board when he beat Giguere with a shot from the right circle 3:01 into the period. It was his 11th goal of the season.

Stewart tied it midway through the period when he knocked in Patrik Berglund's rebound for his fifth goal.

Backes nearly gave the Blues the lead when he had a breakaway a minute later but Giguere made the save.

Stastny put Colorad ahead 1-0 when he deflected Hunwick's shot from the point past Elliott 3:52 into the game. It was his 11th goal of the season.

McLeod made it 2-0 when he hustled for his second goal of the season. Porter dumped the puck in on Elliott, who softly tried to clear the rebound to defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. McLeod intercepted the pass and beat Elliott with a backhand at the 5:13 mark.

The Blues had opportunities to get on the board with three power-play chances in the first. They hit the post and failed to get a shot on goal in 14 seconds with a 5-on-3 advantage.

Raleigh, N.C. - Lauri Korpikoski and Ray Whitney each had a goal and an assist to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.

Korpikoski scored the game-winner at 10:48 of the third period after being set up by Derek Morris and Whitney. Cal O'Reilly and Rostislav Klesla also scored for Phoenix and Jason LaBarbera stopped 34 shots.

The Coyotes, who beat Florida on Tuesday night in the opener of their two-game trip, improved to 4-1 in the second game of back-to-back contests.

Phoenix won for the first time in 13 games when it trailed at the start of the third period, improving to 1-11-1. On the other side, Carolina suffered its first loss in regulation after holding a two-period lead, dropping to 9-1-2.

Tuomo Ruutu got his team-leading 11th goal for the Hurricanes, while Andreas Nodl and Jiri Tlusty also scored. Carolina goalie Cam Ward finished with 15 saves.

The Coyotes tied the score at 3-3 early in the third period as Klesla got his first goal of the season at 4:20.

Whitney, a former Hurricanes player, opened the scoring when his blast from the left point on the power play at 2:16 of the first period got by Ward.

Carolina tied it 7 minutes later when Ruutu scored from just outside the crease after taking a rebound and flicking it past LaBarbera at 9:21.

The Hurricanes scored twice in the second period as Andreas Nodl got his first goal for Carolina at 5:29, and Jiri Tlusty notched his seventh of the season after rushing up the left wing and blasting a drive by LaBarbera.

Phoenix cut the margin to 3-2 with 6:36 left in the period when Cal O'Reilly beat Ward high on the glove side.

San Jose, Calif. - Logan Couture scored two of San Jose's team-record five goals in the first 14:47 as the Sharks beat the Tamba Bay Lightning 7-2 Wednesday night.

Benn Ferriero, Joe Pavelski, Andrew Desjardins, Brent Burns and Patrick Marleau also scored for the Sharks, who won their third straight.

Dominic Moore and Martin St. Louis scored for the Lightning, who had a two-game winning streak snapped and lost their eighth in 11 games.

It was the Sharks five fastest goals ever scored in a regular-season game and a season high for goals. Antti Niemi stopped 22 shots for his third straight win.

Tampa Bay's Dwayne Roloson stopped 31 of 34 shots in relief of starter Mathieu Garon.

Ferriero, recalled from Worcester of the AHL to replace the injured Martin Havlat, gave the Sharks the early lead after taking a pass from behind the net from Joe Thornton less than four minutes into the contest.

Pavelski backhanded a rebound off a shot by Burns during a power play less than two minutes later to make it 2-0.

Desjardins rapped the puck off the post and into the net after Andrew Murray saved the puck behind the net, ending Garon's evening.

Meanwhile, Sharks forward Martin Havlat will miss up to eight weeks following surgery Thursday to repair a partial tear in a tendon in his left hamstring.

San Jose general manager Doug Wilson said the team was prepared for the worst after Havlat injured himself jumping over the Sharks' bench during Saturday's 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Havlat, acquired in a trade from the Minnesota Wild during the offseason, scored his second goal of the season against the Oilers and had recorded three points in his last two games.

Wilson said he expected Havlat to return for the stretch run.

Forward Benn Ferriero was recalled from Worcester to take Havlat's spot on the roster.