Stars top Flyers in OT, gain in Western wild card

DALLAS --The Dallas Stars ended an eight-game losing streak with a 3-2 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
Alexander Radulov scored at 40 seconds, his 27th goal of the season, for the Stars (39-30-8), who were 0-6-2 in their past eight games, their longest losing streak since moving to Dallas in 1993. The Stars trail the Los Angeles Kings by five points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

The Flyers (38-25-14) are the first wild card into the playoffs from the East, two points ahead of the New Jersey Devils. They are 3-0-3 in their past six games.
WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Stars highlights]
Radulov's goal came on a 2-on-0 rush. Flyers forward Claude Giroux fell when carrying the puck into his offensive zone and lost possession. Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier were caught up ice as John Klingberg collected the loose puck and passed to Tyler Seguin at the Philadelphia blue line with Radulov at his side. Seguin skated in on Petr Mrazek, then slid the puck to Radulov on his left for a tap-in.
"It's huge for us," Radulov said. "We've just got to take them one by one and don't look back and just play with everything we've got."
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said multiple factors contributed to the final goal.
"I'm not going to get into particulars or individuals," Hakstol said. "When you try to do a little bit too much at the end of a 3-on-3 shift, things like that, bad things are going to happen. We tried to do something instead of living for the next shift."
The assist for Seguin was his second of the game and his 500th NHL point.
"I guess I never thought about that, you know, personally," Seguin said. "I think it's just nice to be on the winning side of a real emotional game."

Radek Faksa and Brett Ritchie scored, and Kari Lehtonen made 31 saves for the Stars. Lehtonen is 2-11-3 against Philadelphia in his NHL career.
"I think it gives us confidence," Lehtonen said. "It's our job to go out there and play our hearts out, and we need to just keep doing that."
Mrazek made 20 saves. He is 5-5-3 since joining the Flyers at the trade deadline, and 13-12-6 this season.
"We had lots of chances, lots of opportunities," Mrazek said. "I think this time of the year we have to get those bounces on our side."
Faksa gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 10:50 of the first period with his 15th goal of the season. He took a rebound off the end boards behind the net and backhanded the puck off the left skate of Mrazak, who was skating across toward the near post.
Konecny tied it 1-1 at 16:51 with his 23rd goal of the season. He carried the puck from the left point to the right circle and sent a wrist shot to the glove side of Lehtonen.
Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead at 2:03 of the second period on Ivan Provorov's shot on the rush from the slot that went over Lehtonen's blocker for his 14th goal of the season.
Ritchie's power-play goal tied it 2-2 at 10:11. A shot from the right circle by Radulov grazed the blocker of Mrazek and was redirected by Ritchie at the crease.

Goal of the game

Provorov's goal at 2:03 of the second period.

Save of the game

Lehtonen's save on Wayne Simmonds at 12:48 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Radulov's goal 40 seconds into overtime.

They said it

"It's frustrating, playing hard all 60 and coming up short. Just don't get too frustrated and keep playing." -- Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov
"So, we live to fight another day. We've got to go win a road game, and that's the players attitude -- one day at a time." - Stars coach Ken Hitchcock

Need to know

Stars forward Jason Spezza played 10:06 on the fourth line after missing three games with an injured back. … Dallas used 11 forwards and seven defensemen. … Giroux had his NHL career-high 66th assist and remains tied with Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler for the NHL lead. Wheeler had one assist in a 5-4 shootout win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Giroux, who had 65 assists in 2011-12, has 92 points, one short of his NHL career high (2011-12). … Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists and has 59 points this season, the most for a Flyers defenseman since Garry Galley (10-60-70) in 1993-94.

What's next

Flyers: At the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; ALT, NBCSP+, NHL.TV)
Stars: At the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)