Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Flyers won again in dramatic fashion when they beat the visiting Dallas Stars in overtime on Sunday night. It was an intense low scoring match-up. Both teams were on the second game of a back-to-back so there was an abundance of cautious strategy at play.
As of right now the Flyers are in a three way tie with Ottawa and Detroit two points out of the final wild card spot in the East. They are two points out of a three way tie with Columbus and Pittsburgh for 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division.
Things could not be much tighter with just nine games remaining on the regular season schedule. If not for the Flyers disastrous January they would be on easy street. They have worked hard to climb their way back to the pack and are currently very much in the running to earn a potential playoff spot.
Philly vs Dallas
This was the final meeting of these two hockey clubs for the 2025-26 season. The Flyers were coming off of a successful 5-3 game in Detroit the previous night. The Stars also on a back-to-back clobbered the Penguins 6-3 on Saturday. With a record of 44-18-12 the Stars are the 2nd best team in the NHL. Only the Colorado Avalanche has more points.
Having just played the night before both teams were being smart about conserving their limited energy. There were several instances where getting line changes was a bigger concern than winning foot races.
Samuel Ersson had another strong performance in net for the Flyers. He stopped 17 of 18 Dallas shots including a huge glove save on Michael Bunting to open the night.
There was a considerable amount of Dallas fans in the building. Before the end of the first period “Dallas Sucks” chants were already audible in the building.
Travis Konecny scored the 1st goal of the night on the power-play 9:48 into the second period. The Flyers had created a number of chances with the man advantage but Dallas goaltender Casey DeSmith was doing a fine job keeping the Flyers off the board.
Konecny scored on a wrap around stuffer as he was falling to his knees putting the puck in by the far post. It was TK’s 26th goal of the season the assists went to Matvei Michkov and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Late in the middle period the Flyers were again on the powerplay, this time it backfired. The Flyers got bit sloppy in the offensive zone. Arttu Hyry picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone. He banked a pass to himself off the wall before beating Ersson with a stunning high rising shot glove side. It was Hyry’s first NHL goal. Giving up a shortie with just 2:07 left in the 2nd period was not ideal to say the least.
Neither team scored in the final period. With just 2:48 remaining Trevor Zegras picked up a two minute minor penalty for tripping. The timing was terrible. During the Dallas man advantage Matt Duchene made a pass across the slot to Wyatt Johnston. Samuel Ersson got across just in time to get a pad out and rob Johnston of the go ahead goal. It was Ersson’s most challenging save of the game. Total clutch.
Overtime
The Flyers did not allow the Stars to register a shot on goal during the overtime session. Just over three minutes into sudden death Cam York dumped the puck back to his own goaltender to give his team a chance to regroup. Ersson passed the puck back to York who dished it off to Trevor Zegras still in the Flyers zone.
Zegras went coast to coast with the puck skating into the Dallas zone. Zegras kept it simple. He gripped it and ripped it from the right hand circle beating DeSmith between the legs. It was Zegras’s 23rd goal of the season. Ersson picked up the secondary assist.
When the puck crossed the line the arena erupted. Zegras was mobbed by his team mates who showed up in waves to take part in the celebration. This team has a dream to keep alive and tonight was a big step in the right direction. The Flyers played a smart controlled hockey game and beat one the the best teams in the NHL. They outshot Dallas 30-18. The celly was huge and well deserved.
Extra Credit: Flyers general manager Danny Briere had an impromptu presser in the media area outside the press box before the game to give details about the signing of Porter Martone. He said we may see Martone suited up for the Capitals game in DC this Tuesday night, barring any hold-ups due to paper work and medical clearance.
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