Sparked by a pair of shorthanded goals, the Flyers pulled off an unlikely comeback to force overtime against the Stars.
When down 4-2 and shorthanded with less than half a period remaining to orchestrate a comeback, last year's Philadelphia Flyers would have crumbled under pressure. In all likelihood, the 2022-23 Flyers probably would have allowed a power-play goal and possibly even an empty-net marker en route to a demoralizing 6-2 loss on the road.
But this isn't last year's Flyers. Just five games into the 2023-24 season, that's blatantly obvious. Instead of letting things go from bad to worse, the 2023-24 Flyers battled back with one of the more admirable performances in recent franchise history.
Despite falling to the Dallas Stars by a score of 5-4 in overtime Saturday night, the Flyers' unlikely comeback was a clear indication that their days of being a doormat for legitimate playoff contenders are over.
Against all odds, it was the Flyers' penalty kill that both set the tone early and ignited the comeback late in the tilt. The Flyers netted not one, not two, but three shorthanded goals. It was their first time scoring three shorthanded goals in a single game since 1996.
Noah Cates' stick got the shorthanded mastery started. Midway through a Stars power play in the first period, Cates forced a Miro Heiskanen turnover at the blue line and sprung Travis Konecny for a shorthanded, game-tying breakaway goal.
In the third period, the Flyers added two more markers to the shorthanded goal counter. Under a minute after Cam York took an interference penalty on Matt Duchene, a solid defensive play by defenseman Sean Walker sparked a 3-on-2 rush that resulted in Konecny's second shorthanded goal of the game. Just 47 seconds later, Walker netted his second shorty in as many games to tie the game at four goals apiece — partially thanks to Duchene's broken stick at the Flyers end.
The Flyers now lead the entire NHL (along with the Carolina Hurricanes) with four shorthanded goals through the first two weeks of the season, and they nearly scored another shorty when Cam Atkinson got a breakaway opportunity on the penalty kill moments before Konecny's second tally.
Sam Ersson made his first start of the season with Carter Hart getting the night off after a stellar performance against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Ersson had a rough start, allowing two goals on the Stars' first four shots of the game, but settled in nicely as the game progressed. In fact, the Flyers' comeback wouldn't have been possible had it not been for Ersson's series of massive stops early in the third period.
Ersson finished the night with 20 saves on 25 Dallas shots — not exactly sterling numbers, but not terrible considering he hadn't appeared in a game in over two weeks.
Joel Farabee appears to have found his game after a rough 2022-23 season. The 2018 first-round pick potted the Flyers' first goal of the night, giving him three goals in five games to start the year. Still just 23 years old, Farabee could be in line for a bounce-back campaign after a full offseason to train — a luxury he didn't have after undergoing artificial disc replacement surgery last summer.
With Marc Staal out of the lineup, the Flyers leaned on youngsters Egor Zamula and Email Andrae to help fill the void. Zamula built on his strong start to the season with another solid performance, finishing with an assist and a plus-2 rating in 20:43 of ice time.
Andrae, meanwhile, didn't have as much luck. He saw just 11:33 of ice time and continued to struggle forming chemistry with Nick Seeler on the bottom pairing. At this stage, it's clear Andrae would benefit from time spent in Lehigh Valley. With Rasmus Ristolainen likely to be activated off injured reserve in the not-too-distant future, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Flyers loan Andrae to the Phantoms for more seasoning.
The Flyers will be back in action Tuesday for a tilt against the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena before returning to Philadelphia for a four-game homestand.