Flyers Sail By Panthers

     The Philadelphia Flyers raced by the Florida Panthers 4-1 at Wells Fargo Center on Monday night. Both clubs will face each other again on Thursday night in Sunrise. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky played in his 500th NHL game. The Panthers have lost three straight contest and are now 1-4-1 since the All-Star Game break.
     Alekander Barkov continued to climb the Florida Panthers franchise record book. He tied Stephen Weiss for second place with his 249th assist as a Panther and compiled his 400th NHL point. Carter Hart started in goalie for the Flyers after missing the last nine games.
     Florida(29-19-7) stormed out to a 1-0 lead at 3:07 of the opening frame. Barkov cycled the puck from the right wing to Aaron Ekblad on the right point. His slap shot was blocked in front and MacKenzie Weegar followed with a slap shot from the top left circle past Hart.
     It became 1-1 when Philadelphia(31-18-7) evened it up with 6:02 left in the first period. Tyler Pitlick backhanded it from the top zone to Matt Niskanen on the right point. He sent a cross-ice pass and Ivan Provorov snapped a shot from the high slot by Bobrovsky.
     The Flyers took their first lead 2-1 in the second period at the 5:24 mark. Justin Braun advanced the puck from the neutral zone to Jakub Voracek at the Panthers blue line. He skated in on a 2-on-1 breakaway. slid a pass from the low left circle and James van Riemsdyk tapped it in from the top edge of the blue paint his 16th goal of the season.
     They made it a two-goal margin with 51.1 seconds to go in the second. Scott Laughton made a spinning pass from the right circle to the low slot and van Riemsdyk chipped a shot that was saved. Travis Sanheim put in the rebound with a backhand shot from the left of the crease.
     The Panthers pulled their goalie for an extra attacker on a power play with just two minutes left in the third. Jonathan Huberdeau directed a wrist shot from the right of the blue paint that hit the right post. Claude Giroux backhanded the loose puck from his own crease down the ice and it went into an empty net with 1:09 remaining.