CHICAGO ― It’s 760 miles to Chicago from Philly. Despite playing Monday night, the Flyers had a full tank. It was dark, and by the end, they were wearing sunglasses.

The Flyers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1, giving them a two-game winning streak heading into the holiday break. It is the Flyers’ third win in five games and fifth in 12 games.

But the win came with a cost. Forward Denver Barkey did not return for the third period after being involved in a scrum late in the second. Defenseman Travis Sanheim was clipped by Alex Vlasic in the third period and did not skate again.

Travis Konecny gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with, fittingly, his 11th goal of the season 10 minutes, 17 seconds into the first period.

After the Flyers killed off a tripping penalty on Trevor Zegras, he stayed on the ice, and Konency tried to find him as Zegras tried to get open near the right post. Zegras was covered by Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser so it didn’t connect, but he stayed with it and picked up the puck behind the net.

Skating untouched, Zegras carried the puck around the net and curled before finding Konecny. The alternate captain evaded detection before cutting to the net to receive the pass.

Zegras and Konecny each have 13 and 14 points, respectively, in 12 games in December. Konecny has six goals and eight assists, while Zegras, who is riding a career-high nine-game point streak, has six goals and seven assists.

In the second period, the Flyers doubled their total with a power-play goal off Noah Cates’ stick.

Handed a gift when the Blackhawks got called for too many men in the second period, the Flyers’ five-man unit of Konecny, Zegras, Cates, Bobby Brink, and Jamie Drysdale hopped onto the ice after the other unit got a chance. Set up in the offensive zone, they worked it around the perimeter, going from Zegras on the right flank to Brink at the point to Drysdale on the left flank.

Konecny, with Dyrsdale in his spot, glided down to the left post and received the puck from his defenseman. The forward turned his back net-front, drawing in Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy, giving him the ability to send a no-look pass under his lifted right leg to Cates in front.

Despite having Vlasic all over him, Cates banged in the puck for his ninth of the year and second power-play goal of the season. His career high on the man advantage is three, set in 2022-23. Cates is riding a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists) while the assist was the 300th of Konency’s career in 682 games.

Through two periods, Sam Ersson allowed one goal on 14 shots, with Natural Stat Trick noting that he faced just one high-danger shot. For the most part, he saw the puck well — the goal by Chicago’s Ryan Donato from the high slot during four-on-four action looked like it was screened by up to three members of the Flyers — and played his angles.

Ersson didn’t face his first shot of the night until 7:57 into the opening frame, making a glove save on Ilya Mikheyev. He later stopped a Connor Murphy slap shot and robbed Donato on a two-on-one that also saw the Boston native try to bury the rebound.

In the second period, the Swedish netminder moved well to make a save on a Matt Grzelcyk point shot with Oliver Moore standing in front. He stopped Donato from the right circle and then the forward again when he went to the front of the net and tipped a shot. And in the third period, with the Flyers up by one, he made a nifty glove save on a wide-open shot by Louis Crevier.

Ersson made 20 saves on 21 shots.

Breakaways

Carl Grundström scored an empty-netter to seal the win. … Defenseman Noah Juulsen and forwards Nic Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway were healthy scratches. … Drysdale has two points on the power play this season, coming in the past three games.

Up next

After the NHL’s three-day holiday break, the Flyers return to the ice on Saturday for a practice in Seattle before taking on the Kraken on Sunday (8 p.m., NBCSP, NHLN).

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