On a night two of a crucial back to back slate of games, the Flyers collected yet another two points and are now just two points out of a playoff spot. The orange and black are also 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. Let’s wrap on the wild weekend that was:
Pregame: Porter Martone Signs Entry Level Deal
Ahead of the Flyers and Stars matchup, news broke that Philadelphia has signed 2025 sixth overall pick Porter Martone to an entry level contract. Martone, 19, may end up making his NHL debut as early as Thursday against the Red wings, according to theAthletic’s Kevin Kurz, but that is still up in the air as this writing. Briere confirmed that when he met with the media prior to the game, saying that the Flyers were “hopeful” that Martone could play in Washington.
This past season, Martone completed his first season in the NCAA with Michigan State University and picked up 50 points (25g-25a) in 35 games. Most recently, the winger collected three points (1g-2a) through two games at the 2026 NCAA Tournament. He led his team in both goals and points as a freshman in 2025-2026.
Whether he suits up or this week or not, this news is exciting for fans of the orange and black. Martone is considered a skilled and creative player with an excellent shot. He also possesses some physicality to his game and the size to dominate at 6’3″ and 200 plus pounds.
You can read more about his game here.
Konnecting
At the 9:48 mark of the second period, a Matvei Michkov pass ricocheted to Travis Konecny at the side of net before Konecny stepped out in front of the Dallas net and scored to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. The goal was Konecny’s 26th of the season. Later, Dallas would untie the match at 17:53, thanks to rookie Arttu Hyry scoring his first NHL goal shorthanded after Jamie Drysdale stumbled and fell down attempting to play a puck.
The game would remain deadlocked the rest of the way, perhaps due to both teams coming off a back to back situation with travel. Nevertheless, that benefitted the Flyers, who still were game to compete with one of the Western Conference’s best club’s.
Stopped by Sam
With 2:48 left to play in regulation, Trevor Zegras tripped Dallas forward Adam Erne in the neutral zone, giving the Stars an opportunity to close the game in regulation. Normally, this would always be trouble but especially since the Stars possess one of the more lethal powerplays in the game today. Dallas is ranking second in the league at 28.9 percent on the man advantage, one behind the Edmonton Oilers.
However, it was Flyers netminder Sam Ersson who would stand tall Sunday night.
With 34 seconds remaining on Dallas’ powerplay, defensemen Miro Heiskanen snapped a pass down to Matt Duchene, who then quickly whipped a pass across the Flyers crease to Wyatt Johnston on the opposite post. Ersson tracked the puck well and flashed across the blue paint making a huge, game-saving save with an out-stretched pad to keep the game tied.
“I’ll be honest with you, I can’t see a big difference other than he’s got a lot of confidence,” head coach Rick Tocchet said. “His [attitude] has been good all year, I just think he’s not listening to the outside noise helps too for him.”
Earlier this season, Ersson has struggled mightily at times but lately, he’s provided the club with some quality outings of late. The Swedish goaltender is now 5-0-0 since the Olympic Break.
“Awesome guy, awesome teammate,” Konecny said of Ersson. “He’s just one of those guys that keeps working, keeps pressing and you want to play hard in front of him.”
Z’s GWG
With 1:33 remaining in overtime, Zegras lugged a puck up the ice and perfectly placed a shot through goalie Casey DeSmith’s five-hole for the game-winning goal. The goal was Zegras’ 23rd of the season, with the assists going to Cam York and goaltender Sam Ersson in the win.
“I thought his effort in overtime to win that puck battle, that was good,” Tocchet said. “It was a big game for him I thought against that Dallas team. He was dragging guys into the fight. He had a great game for us.”
With the win, the Flyers pulled within two points of both third place in the Division and final wildcard spot with a four point swing this weekend.
They Said It
Tocchet on the Flyers having success in back to backs this season: “Maturity has a lot to do with it. Mental toughness, we talk about that all the time. The leadership in the room. All of that stuff. Sometimes back-to-backs play in your mind. I think if you play the smart game, you can win those hockey games.”
Konecny on the Flyers’ hot streak: “It’s great, but lots of work to do. It was awesome being part of that out there and now onto the next game.”
Sean Couturier on Porter Martone’s arrival: “It’s exciting. Other than on TV, never really seen him play, but there’s a lot of hype around him. To have a young, talented guy like that, that can help us in the future and help us right now is huge. I think it’s good also for his experience to kind go through this playoff race and gain some experience.”
Trevor Zegras on his tripping penalty late in the game/Ersson’s save: “It was the worse two minutes of my life. Like, it was so slow and I don’t even know what happened. I don’t even know how my stick got in his skate like that. Incredible save, PK did an incredible job. It’s amazing.”
Did You Know?
According to NHL stats, Trevor Zegras has now scored six game deciding goals past regulation this season (overtime & shootout-deciding goals), which is tied with Cole Caufield for the most among all players in the NHL this season.
On Deck
The Flyers will return to action on Tuesday evening, when they head to Washington to take on the Capitals. Puckdrop is set for 7:00 p.m. and will broadcast locally on NBCSP.
