After hectic third period, Stars earn 5-4 overtime victory over Flyers

DALLAS — How many games need to be played before we reevaluate what this Flyers team might be capable of?

It’s more than five, to be sure, but for the third time this week, the Flyers largely outplayed a Western Conference foe that they’re supposed to be a lot less talented than.

But in a matchup of backup goalies, the Dallas Stars found the final tally, an overtime goal by Joe Pavelski, to knock off the Flyers, 5-4, at American Airlines Arena.

The loss dropped the Flyers, who scored three shorthanded goals, to 3-1-1 on the season, while Dallas improved to 3-0-1. It was, however, a much-deserved and difficult road point for the Flyers against a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.

The Flyers out-shot the Stars, 40-25 in shots on net, and attempted 74 shots to Dallas’ 53.

“Obviously we want to clean up a few areas, but we battled hard,” said defenseman Travis Sanheim. “I thought that was a pretty big point for us and we’re going to move on.”

Midway through the third period, the Stars had a 3-2 lead in what was a normal, up-and-down hockey game. Then three goals happened in 2 minutes, 9 seconds.

First, Jamie Benn gave the Stars a 4-2 lead, which looked even more like a backbreaker when the Flyers took a penalty less than 30 seconds later.

But the Flyers scored twice on the ensuing penalty kill. First, Travis Konecny tallied his second shorty of the game. Then, defenseman Sean Walker joined the rush and buried a wrist shot — his second consecutive game with a shorthanded goal. That evened the score at 4-4 with 7 minutes, 15 seconds remaining.

That set up overtime, where Pavelski’s goal ended the drama.

“We just stayed with it,” said Flyers coach John Tortorella. “You’d like to get both points. But we just stayed in the game, handled some of the momentum swings and found a way to get back in and tie it.”

With Carter Hart getting the night off, Sam Ersson was playing in his first game in 19 days, having last appeared in a preseason game. Ask any goalie about staying sharp, and they’ll tell you nothing simulates what you see in a game.

This is the life of a backup goalie, and 19-day stretches without game action is not uncommon. After making the team out of camp, Ersson is likely to see his fewest number of games since becoming a professional.

Ersson, who was solid in his 12-game NHL debut last season, looked rusty early. The Stars took a 1-0 lead just over four minutes into the game. Nick Seeler misplayed a bouncing puck and allowed Wyatt Johnston to end up skating in free on Ersson, who he beat cleanly with a wrist shot.

Ersson’s teammates didn’t help him much later in the period with sloppy zone coverage. Tyler Seguin found himself open in front of the net and redirected the puck by Ersson.

It was Dallas’ third goal that Ersson probably wanted back most. Thirty seconds into the second period, Roope Hintz beat Ersson with a wrist shot from distance as it seemed like the Stars were looking to exploit Ersson’s positioning — they were targeting his far side when shooting from an angle.

“I feel like this isn’t the best version of me,” Ersson said. “It sucks. I feel like when the guys in front of me played so well today, I think we earned two points.”

The Stars poured it in during the second period but Ersson, who turned 24 Friday, kept the score at 3-2 heading into the third period.

In the third, that far side exploitation came back in play. Benn skated in on a 2-on-1 on the right side and beat Ersson’s blocker with a wrist shot that extended Dallas’ lead to 4-2 and kicked off a wild final 10-plus minutes.

Ersson’s best moment of the night came in overtime, when he robbed Hintz with his glove during a 2-on-1 rush.

“Third period was excellent for him,” Tortorella said. “I didn’t think he was very good in the first two periods, but found a way to make some great saves in the third period. It’s a good sign.”

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The Flyers are off Sunday. They practice Monday in Las Vegas before playing the Golden Knights Tuesday (11 p.m., ESPN) at T-Mobile Arena.