Flyers Stop Panthers

     The Florida Panthers lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 at BB&T Center on Thursday night. It was the second time in four days that both clubs faced each other.
     It was a rare national television appearance by the Panthers in the United States on NBCSN. They have appeared several times on Canadian national television this season, which included Hometown Hockey.
     Philadelphia(32-19-7) was able to score at 4:24 of the first period.  Travis Sanheim sent a cross-ice pass from the left point. Matt Niskanen took a shot from above the right circle that was saved, however James van Riemsdyk poked in the rebound from the blue paint for his 17th goal of the season.
     The Flyers got a  two-goal margin with 2:23 left in the period.  Niskanen moved the puck to van Riemsdyk in the neutral zone and he advanded it forward. Tyler Pitlick fired a high wrist shot that went over the left shoulder of former Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky and into the cage.
     It became 3-0 for Philadelphia with 1:28 remaining in the first. Michael Raffl took a snap shot from the left circle which was saved, but Nicolas Aube-Kubel knocked in the rebound from the top of the crease.
     Sam Montembeault replaced Bobrovsky in net for Florida(30-21-6) to begin the second period. Bobrovsky surrendered three goals on nine Flyers shots.
     Philadelphia made it a four-goal gap with 1:02 to go in the second. Justin Braun pushed it from the right wing to van Riemsdyk on the end wall. He backhanded a pass to the low slot and Scott Laughton put in a tally.
     The Panthers broke the shutout 33 second into the third period and trailed 4-1. Aaron Ekblad tipped the puck from the high slot to MacKenzie Weegar and he made a slap pass from the top left circle. Jonathan Huberdeau released a snap shot from the low right circle past Carter Hart for his 20th goal of the season. It was the third straight season that Huberdeau has scored at least 20 goals.
     Florida cut it to 4-2 at the 4:56 mark. Anton Stralman backed the puck from the slot area to Keith Yandle at the top of zone. He angled a pass to his left and Aleksander Barkov snapped a shot from the low left circle for his 17th tally of the campaign. Barkov tied Pavel Bure for second place all-time in Florida Panthers history with his 152nd goal.
     The Flyers stopped the Panthers momentum with 5:08 left in the third. Claude Giroux sent an outlet pass from center ice to Sean Couturier at the blue line. He skated into the slot and scored on a forehand shot.
     They got a goal on the man advantage with 27.3 seconds remaining to make it 6-2. Robert Hagg had a give-and-go pass with Raffl in the right corner and got his third goal of the year from the right edge of the crease.