Panthers Drop Flyers

     The Florida Panthers swept a six-game home stand with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday at BB&T Center. The Panthers with the win jumped the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Florida has won 13 of their last 16 games played.
     In the first period, Florida(32-25-6) got an early power play and they converted on it at the 2:41 mark. Roberto Luongo stopped the puck in his crease and handed it off to Ketih Yandle. He sent a lead pass from his own end through the neutral zone to Aleksander Barkov on the Flyers blue line. He went in on a breakaway through the slot and scored on a forehand shot past Petr Mrazak for his 25th goal of the season. He extended his goal streak to four games and point streak to six games.
     The Panthers expanded their lead to 2-0 with 5:11 left in the first. A Nick Bjugstad rainbow pass from his own goal line went to Evgenii Dadonov deep in the neutral zone. He skated down the left side into the left circle and released a wrist shot.
     The Cats made it a three-goal margin with 1:54 remaining in the second period. Barkov recovered a loose puck in the Panthers zone at the high slot and moved it into center ice. He connected a lead pass to Dadonov who skated alone into the Flyers zone and snapped in a shot from the low slot for his second goal of the game and 20th tally of the game. It was his 14th point in the last 10 games.
     Philadelphia(34-21-11) surrendered another goal at the 2:47 mark of the third and trailed 4-0. Jamie McCann pushed the puck forward out of the Panthers zone to mid-ice. Jonathan Huberdeau collected it and carried it deep in the slot with Radko Gudas defending him. He shook off Gudas, went to his backhand in the crease area and scored his 20th goal of the season.
     The Flyers broke the shutout with 3:21 to go in the frame. Brandon Manning delayed and then blasted a slap shot from the right point. Luongo made the save and Travis Konecny swept in the rebound for his 17th goal. Claude Giroux was credited with the secondary assist on the play.