In overtime, the Flyers iced the puck. Pavelski won a faceoff and then won the game as he went to the net untouched. Taking a pass from Johnston, Pavelski's backhander won the game for Dallas at the 2:13 mark.
Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson and Dallas netminder Scott Wedgewood made their respective first starts of the 2023-24 season. Ersson took the overtime loss, stopping 20 of 25 shots. Wedgewood was peppered with 40 shots, stopping 36.
Overall, the Flyers played a solid game -- taking the play to the Stars for significant stretches of the game. Ersson, who last played in the penultimate game of the preseason, stepped up at times in the third period. He may have liked a couple of the earlier goals back but he battled through it until the final tally by Pavelski.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
11 Travis Konecny - 21 Scott Laughton - 71 Tyson Foerster
74 Owen Tippett- 14 Sean Couturier - 89 Cam Atkinson
86 Joel Farabee - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink
44 Nic Deslauriers- 25 Ryan Poehling- Garnet Hathaway
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
18 Marc Staal - 5 Egor Zamula
36 Emil Andrae -24 Nick Seeler
33 Samuel Ersson
[32 Felix Sandström]
TURNING POINT(S)
There were several turning points in this seesaw affair: Farabee's first shorthanded goal that made it a 2-2 game, Hintz's go-ahead goal early in the second period and, most off all, the back-to-back shorthanded goals by Konecny and Walker that sent the game to overtime.
With 3:07 on the clock in OT, Ersson flashed the leather to snare a Hintz shot on a 2-on-1 rush. However, the reprieve was short-lived. Pavelski beat Couturier on a right-circle faceoff, claimed by Johnston. That started the game-ending sequence.
POSTGAME 5
1) Foerster had the game's first shot goal; an unscreened snap shot from just over the center of the blueline. Wedgewood made an easy save. At 1:20, the Flyers took an unpressured icing. Dallas won the ensuing faceoff in the Flyers zone and Mason Marchment fired a puck just wide of the net.
With the Flyers trailing 1-0, Ersson made a good save on an Evgenii Dadonov backhander from 15 feet. Shot were 4-2 Stars. On the next shift, Konecny took a pass from Foerster and fired a shot on net from the right dot.
After Farabee cut a 2-0 deficit in half, Tippett had a good scoring chance swooping out from behind the net. Sanheim took a puck hard to the net. Hathaway landed a solid hit on Radek Faksa.
The Stars went on the game's first power play at 15:36 of the opening stanza. Cam York was called for a holding minor in the neutral zone on Marchment. The Flyers promptly turned the kill into Konecny's shorthanded goal. A shift later, still on the PK, Laughton and Couturier had a 2-on-1 opportunity.
2) The Flyers shook off a sluggish start to the first period to take control over the latter half of the stanza. Shots on goal were 15-6 Flyers. Shot attempts were 26-17 Flyers. Scoring chances per Natural Stat Trick were 9-7 Dallas (3-2 high danger edge for the Flyers). Dallas was charged with four giveaways in the period. The Stars blocked eight Flyers shots (led by three from Marchment), and Philly also blocked eight (led by two apiece from Laughton and Seeler).
3) After the Stars reclaimed the lead, Poehling tested Wedgewood to the short side from a tight angle. Wedgewood managed to hold the post. For Dallas, the Hintz goal came on their lone shot on goal in the four minutes of the second stanza. At the 4:00 mark, Laughton won an offensive zone faceoff, and a few seconds later, Foerster picked a Stars defender's pocket for a takeaway.
With 13:27 left in the period, Ersson got help from the goal post on another shot headed for the long side on a shot by Seguin. Shortly after that, Faksa put two shots on net in quick succession. A scramble ensued. Near the nine-minute mark, York did a good defensive job forcing a pinching Heiskanen to the outside and then snuffing out a pass attempt.
York made another good play, at 11:29 of the middle frame. First, he had a slick keep at the point and then he put a shot on net. The Flyers got an offensive zone faceoff from it.
At the 13:00 mark, Zamula was called for delay of game when the officials ruled an airborne puck he batted behind the Flyers net didn't touch anything before going over the glass into the crowd. The Flyers staged a strong penalty kill to keep the deficit at 3-2.
At 15:22, Ersson fought off some traffic and a fluttering puck to absorb a point shot on the 14th shot he faced fror the game. Two shifts later, denied a salvo from Danonov.
At 17:38, the Flyers finally received their first power play of the game. Marchment hooked Brink as he worked his way from near the boards toward the middle of the ice. During the power play, Wedgewood fought off a wicked shot from the flank by Tippett.
4) Second period shots on goal were 14-8 Flyers (29-15 Flyers through two periods). Shot attempts were 21-19 (47-36 Flyers through 40 minutes). Scoring chances were 9-8 Dallas (18-15 Stars through two periods) with an even 2-2 distribution in the second period (5-4 Flyers through two periods). Through two periods, faceoffs were 26-18 in the Stars' favor.
5) In the opening minute of the third period, Sanheim turned over a puck in the neutral zone directly on the stick of the dangerous Pavelski. Ersson came up with his biggest save of the game up to that point. On the next shift, the Stars hemmed the Flyers in deep and put several shot attempts at the net. Then, Matt Duchene got past Emil Andrae for a breakaway on Ersson. Again, the goalie made the save.
Seeler landed a big clean hit on Benn. Cates missed the net on a 40-foot attempt. At the 7:42 mark, Tippett took a cross-ice feed from Couturier and fired a shot on Edgewood. Shots on goal were 5-3 Stars up to this point. On the next shift, Farabee landed a solid and clean hit on Johnston.
At 9:26, Seeler dropped the gloves with Jani Hakanpää, Seeler, who got an instigation penalty (and automatic 10-minute misconduct). got the better of the fight itself. His opponent received an additional roughing minor.
After Benn's goal, York was called for an interference penalty at 11:02. For the second time, the Flyers bagged a shorthanded goal, courtesy of Konecny. Walker then evened up the game.
With 1:48 left in the third period, Brink created a scoring chance swooping around the net. Cates was narrowly denied on a follow up attempt. With 38.1 seconds left in regulation, Ersson made a vital save without allowing a rebound. The game went to overtime. Third period shots on goal were 10-8 Flyers.
