CHICAGO -- Radko Gudas scored an unassisted goal midway through the third period Wednesday to lift the red-hot Flyers into the Eastern Conference playoff picture with a 3-2 win over the Blackhawks.
Gudas’ slap shot struck Chicago defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and bounced past Scott Darling to break a tie at 10:07 of the final frame. The Flyers hung on for their second straight win and vaulted a point ahead of idle Detroit for the final playoff spot.
Wednesday’s win, which came about 24 hours after a 4-3 win over Detroit, bumped the Flyers to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.
Michal Neuvirth stopped 24 Chicago shots for his 17th win of the season, as the Flyers handed the Stanley Cup champions their fourth straight loss.
Ryan White tied the game 1-1 late in the first period when he deflected in Andrew MacDonald’s power-play slap shot past Scott Darling. Officials initially gave the goal to MacDonald but changed the scoring play to give White credit for his ninth marker of the season.
Brayden Schenn knotted the score at 2-2 in the second when he finished a two-on-one break with Claude Giroux for his 24th goal. Giroux darted away with an outlet pass from Wayne Simmonds before finding Schenn at the other end.
NHL
Chicago’s Marian Hossa opened the scoring when he beat Neuvirth on a shorthanded breakaway midway through the first. The play started with a Flyers turnover near the Blackhawks’ blue line.
Jonathan Toews made it 2-1 minutes into the second when he flicked a second-chance puck over a prone Neuvirth. Patrick Kane, a threat to win the Hart and Art Ross trophies, ended a three-game pointless streak with an assist on the goal.
Goalie report
Neuvirth made his first start since March 3 and improved to 17-8-4 after making 24 saves, including a pair of big stops in the final period.
Kane had a good look from the right side but Neuvirth was in time for a pad save and, earlier, stopped Artemi Planarian on a breakaway chance. Neuvirth got help from the posts, as a pair of Chicago shots ricocheted away in the first two periods.
Darling, the Chicago backup, fell to 4-1-0 at the United Center after making 26 saves.
Power play
The Flyers’ second chance with the man advantage went a lot better than their first.
White’s goal came on the only shot the Flyers managed during their second power play, which took some of the sting out of the first, when Hossa dashed away on a breakaway to score the game’s first goal.
Penalty kill
The Flyers incurred two minor penalties in less than a minute in the first but allowed just two shots on goal and kept the Blackhawks scoreless in the first. Their third penalty, which spanned the first and second periods, yielded no shots.
Milestone moment
Giroux assisted on Schenn’s second-period goal for his 59th point of the season and 509th of his career. It pushed him past Rick Tocchet into 13th on the franchise’s all-time points list.
Injury report
Wing Jakub Voracek missed his ninth straight game with a lower-body injury. Forwards Jordan Weal and R.J. Umberger, along with defenseman Evgeny Medvedev, were healthy scratches.
Is it Christmas?
No, just the night before St. Patrick’s Day. The Blackhawks warmed up in green sweaters Wednesday before switching to their usual home reds, just as the Flyers did before Tuesday’s win over Detroit.
Many Chicago fans wore their green Wednesday to give the crowd a festive look.
Up next
The Flyers return to the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon to resume their in-state rivalry with Pittsburgh, whom they now trail by two points for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The opening faceoff is at 1 p.m. on CSN.