Stars secure playoffs spot first since 2016 in Western Conference

Alexander Radulov had two goals, including the game-winner, and two assists, as the Dallas Stars rolled past the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 on Tuesday to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2016. The win was the fourth in the past five games for the Stars (42-31-7, 91 points), who held on to their three-point cushion as the first wild-card team in the Western Conference with two games to play in the regular season: Friday at Chicago and Saturday at home versus Minnesota.

Dallas goalkeeper Anton Khudobin recorded 32 saves in the win. Esa Lindell and Jason Dickinson each had a goal and an assist. Dickinson started the scoring for the Stars just 1:34 into the first period when he corralled a Tyler Seguin pass and rifled a shot past Philadelphia netminder Cam Talbot.

Lindell added to the Dallas advantage with a power-play goal just 2:40 later, as he deflected a shot from Mats Zuccarello between his legs and over Talbot's blocker into the right side of the net. Radulov had the secondary assists on both Dickinson's and Lindell's goals. The Flyers cut the Dallas lead in half at the 1:13 mark of the second quarter when Oskar Lindblom slammed home a rebound through Khudobin, after Nolan Patrick drove hard to the net.

Philadelphia tied the game at 2-2 with 8:27 to play in the second period, with Shayne Gostisbehere burying a one-timer into the back of the net off a pass from Claude Giroux on the power play. Radulov scored the eventual game-winner with 3:21 left in the second period, taking a pass from Seguin and going to his backhand to score and regain a 3-2 lead.

Tyler Pitlick finished off a nice passing sequence for the Stars with a low, quick shot that beat Talbot for a 4-2 lead with 1:20 to play in the second. Blake Comeau boosted the Stars' lead to 5-2 at 9:33 of the third period, and Radulov ripped a pass from Dickinson through Talbot 10 seconds later to score his second goal and send the Dallas fans into a frenzy in advance of the postseason. Talbot turned away 24 of 30 shots in the loss for the Flyers (37-35-8, 82 points), who have been eliminated from the playoffs.

(With inputs from agencies.)