Postgame 5: Flyers Lose to Stars in OT, 3-2

The Philadelphia Flyers dropped an overtime decision to the Dallas Stars, 3-2, at American Airlines Center on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers are 1-8-1 over their last 10 games. Philadelphia was the better team for the majority of the matinee contest but had to settle for one point. Dallas has seen each of its last four games decided beyond regulation.

Ryan Poehling intercepted an attempted outlet pass and tested Jake Oettinger with the game's first bonafide scoring chance. Tyson Foerster also had a high-quality scoring chance off a pass-out from Bobby Brink. Philadelphia generated each of the first five shots on goal in the opening period.

The Stars turned their first shot of the game into a 1-0 lead at 6:27. Colin Blackwell finessed a pass to defenseman Thomas Harley (14th of the season), who snapped a shot through traffic past Ivan Fedotov. The helpers went to Blackwell and Sam Steel.

Dallas scored again on their second shot. Defenseman Esa Lindell joined the attack and scored from the deep center slot off a pass from Mikael Gralund. The assists went to Granlund and Matt Duchene. This was a save opportunity that Fedotov would have wanted back.

Travis Konecny, who has recently been passing up open shots, elected to fire the puck on a transition rush. Oettinger made the save at 11:08.

The Flyers had each of the game's first two power plays. The second, a high-sticking minor on Jason Robertson at 18:40 was a missed call, as it was actually Cates' stick that inadvertently caught Brink up in the face. The Flyers took 20 seconds of carryover 5-on-4 time into the second period.

First period shots on goal favored the Flyers, 8-3. A long-range dump in that Fedotov steered away as it came near was not counted as a shot on goal. The Stars were charged with 14 turnovers -- including 10 giveaways -- in the opening 20 minutes.

With Fedotov yielding two goals on three shots in 20 minutes, Samuel Ersson took over in net for the start of the second period. In the opening minute, Ersson made a save on Mikko Rantanen from the right side. At 2:54, Cates made a tremendous defensive play to prevent a point-blank goal for Duchene.

The Flyers were unable to score on a 3-on-1 transition chance with tired Dallas players caught behind the play. Olle Lycksell tucked the puck wide.

Matvei Michkov had a prime scoring chance off a feed from Konecny. Later in the shame shift, however, Konecny sped down the right wing and scored (23rd of the season) from the hash marks to the blocker side, ending a goal drought that dated back to Feb 8. The assists went to Michkov and Sean Couturier at 13:03.

Dallas went to their first power play at 13:45 as Nick Seeler accidentally batted the puck over the glass from the defensive zone. As the power play expired, Ersson made a 10-bell save on Duchene. On replay, it was ruled that the puck had not entirely crossed the goal line (at least not conclusively). The Stars went right back to the man advantage at 16:07 on a high-sticking infraction by Brink. With 25 seconds left in the power play, Marchment found Duchene in the right slot. The shot missed the net. As play continued, Foerster had a shorthanded scoring chance but was poke-checked at the last instant.

The Flyers turned a Dallas turnover into a tying goal at 18:48. Ryan Poehling (7th) dragged the puck around lifelong friend Oettinger and chipped the puck upstairs to forge a 2-2 deadlock. The assists went to Michkov and Foerster.

Konecny took a hooking penalty at 19:51. Dallas took 1:51 of carryover power play time into the third period.

Second period shots on goal were 7-5 Dallas but, in a reversal of the first period, it was the Flyers to capitalize on a pair of chances. Through 40 minutes, shots on goal were 13-10 Flyers.

The Flyers killed off the remainder of the Konecny penalty at the start of the third period. Exiting the penalty box, Konecny skated the puck to safety, allowing his team to change personnel. At 3:13, Owen Tippett took an offensive zone tripping penalty along the boards. The penalty ended with 32 seconds remaining as Matt Dumba bumped Konecny far away from the puck for an interference minor. Dallas narrowly killed off their 4-on-5, courtesy of Oettinger, but the Flyers continued to pressure after even strength play resumed.

Third period shots on goal were 11-8 Flyers (24-18 Philly through 60 minutes). Dallas made a push in the final five minutes of the period but otherwise were often on the wrong side of the puck. Overtime lasted a mere nine seconds, before Dallas won the game on Harley's second goal of the game (15th of the season). Ersson misplayed the puck and turned it over to Robertson. After a pass over to an oncoming Harley, the game was over as the offensive-minded defenseman backhanded the puck into the net.

Oettinger made 22 saves on 24 shots to earn the win Ersson stopped each of the first 15 shots he faced before his OT puckhandling gaffe proved fatal.

Special teams were a wash in this game. The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play to continue their month-long drought in March. However, the Flyers were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster -27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink
39 Matvei Michkov - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 25 Ryan Poehling - 22 Jakob Pelletier
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 15 Olle Lycksell

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
36 Emil Andrae - 5 Egor Zamula

82 Ivan Fedotov
[32 Samuel Ersson]

Scratches: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (upper bod), 19 Garnet Hathaway (upper body).

PP1: Drysdale, Konecny, Couturier, Michkov, Brink
PP2: Andrae, Tippett, Cates, Lycksell, Sanheim

TURNING POINT

In regulation, Konecny's snipe of a goal in the second period turned the tide after Philly outchanced Dallas early but had only a two-goal deficit to show for it. In OT, the Ersson turnover opened the door for Dallas to win a game in which Pete DeBoer's club was plagued by turnovers of their own.

POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Between the pipes: The first goal Dallas scored came off the cycle with traffic in front. There wasn't much Fedotov could do about it. The Lindell goal that made it 2-0 was one the goalie needed to stop in that situation, although the Flyers didn't generate much back pressure. Ersson did a good job in relief, stopping 15 shots in regulation before surrendering the deciding goal in OT.

2. Search for scoring: The Flyers knocked on the door multiple times over the game's first 30 minutes. Finally, Konecny (ending a 13-game goal drought) and Poehling (third goal in five games) broke the ice.

3. TK factor: Philly's leading point-getter Konency played with hyperkinetic energy. He was in the thick of multiple scoring chances and finally buried a desperately needed goal to end his post-Four Nations drought.

4. Low-event hockey? The Flyers had the start to the game they wanted to have: puck possession edge, Dallas held at bay and a 5-0 shot on goal advantage. Unfortunately, two goals from Dallas defensemen gave the Stars a 2-0 edge on just two shots. Meanwhile, Dallas was charged with 17 giveaways through two periods. It took a while for the Flyers to capitalize but they eventually made Dallas pay to take the game to the third period knotted at 2-2. At the end of regulation, the Flyers had limited the Stars to 1 shots on goal. However, late in regulation, the Flyers got hemmed in their own end and took several icings.

5. X-factor -- Blueline without Ristolainen: With Rasmus Ristolainen absent from the Flyers lineup on a week-to-week basis, other defensemen saw extended playing time. On Saturday, Travis Sanheim logged 27:36 of ice time (two shots on goal, four shot attempts, one credited hit, two blocked shots) and defense partner Cam York played 22:39 (six shot attempts, one shot on goal, two credited hits, one blocked shot). Jamie Drysdale played 20:49.