Zegras' OT goal helps Flyers edge Stars, close gap in Eastern Conference wild-card race

PHILADELPHIA -- Trevor Zegras scored with 1:33 remaining in overtime, and the Philadelphia Flyers won their third straight game, 2-1 against the Dallas Stars at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Zegras carried the puck up the right side of the Dallas zone and snapped a shot through Stars goalie Casey DeSmith's five-hole.

"Overtime is like a weird chess game where you can kind of play in between guys," Zegras said. "(Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen) gave me a little bit of space, so I just took a shot and it went in."

Travis Konecny also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 17 saves and had an assist on Zegras' goal for Philadelphia (37-24-12), which also won 5-3 at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and is 8-1-1 in its past 10 games.

The Flyers are tied with the Red Wings and Ottawa Senators at 86 points, just two behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference. They're also two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

"The belief and confidence is pretty high right now," Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen said. "... It's really fun playing extremely meaningful games at this time of year. Obviously, every night is a big one. So very, very exciting."

Arttu Hyry scored his first NHL goal, and DeSmith made 28 saves for Dallas (44-18-12), which was coming off a 6-3 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday but has lost five of six (1-3-2). 

The Stars, who are six points ahead of the Minnesota Wild for second in the Central Division, became the second team to reach 100 points this season.

"One hundred points is not something you take lightly in the League," Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. "Tonight was a hard game, symbolic of how hard it is to get here. But they're playing hard. I thought it was a really stingy contest. I thought both teams looked pretty tired too. I thought it was a pretty even affair. They got the extra point, so we'll just move on."

After a scoreless first period, Konecny gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 9:48 of the second. Konecny and Matvei Michkov passed the puck back and forth deep on the left side of the Stars zone. Konecny drove the puck to the net from below the goal line, wrapped around and deposited it past DeSmith's left pad.

Hyry scored short-handed to tie 1-1 at 17:53. Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale tracked back into Philadelphia's zone to play the puck but fell, and Hyry snapped a shot far side over Ersson's glove from the left face-off dot.

"I saw their guy kind of struggling with the puck and with his balance," Hyry said. "Kind of guessed on that and got the puck. It's just nice. Shoot it as hard as you can and hope it goes in."

Dallas had a chance to go ahead when Zegras was called for tripping at 17:12 of the third period. Ersson, however, kept the game tied with an outstanding right-pad save on Wyatt Johnston's wrist shot from the left side of the crease with 1:21 remaining. Johnston leads the NHL with 24 power-play goals.

"He's the difference in the game," Flyers captain Sean Couturier said of Ersson. "He's a gamer. He's there when you need him. He can make those big saves. He played great tonight. He kept us in it all night."

It was Ersson's fifth straight win, and since play resumed following the break for the Winter Olympics, he's 5-0-0 with a 1.46 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in six games (five starts). Prior to the Olympics, he had a 3.51 GAA and .856 save percentage in 24 games (22 starts).

"He looks solid mentally," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. "Good in practices, good demeanor. I'll be honest, I can't see a big difference (from before the break) other than the fact that he's got a lot of confidence. Even when he's not playing, around the room and stuff like that, you can just tell he's ready to go. His whole attitude, it's been good all year. I just think that he's not listening to the outside noise."

NOTES: Stars forward Michael Bunting left the game with 3:52 remaining in the first period due to a lower-body injury. Gulutzan said he's hopeful Bunting won't be out long. "Preliminarily, I don't think it'll be that long. You can see the schedule is taking its toll on teams and it's taking its toll on us right now." ... Hyry is the fifth Stars/Minnesota North Stars player to have his first NHL goal come short-handed, and the first since Gemel Smith on Nov. 6, 2016. ... Zegras has five points (one goal, four assists) during a five-game point streak. It was also his sixth game-deciding goal past regulation (overtime and shootout), which is tied with Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield for the most in the NHL.