Panthers Hold Off Flyers

     The Florida Panthers handled the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena. The Panthers, who expanded their winning streak to seven games, continued their five-game homestand. The Cats will host the New Jersey Devils in separate games next week on Tuesday and Thursday. 

     Sergei Bobrovsky continued to climb the NHL all-time wins lists for a goalie. He surpassed Grant Fuhr for 12th place with his 404th career victory. 

     Philadelphia(5-8-2) started out with a 1-0 lead at the 4:57 mark of the first period. Bobby Brink took a shot from the low right circle which Sergei Bobrovsky saved. Scott Laughton poked the rebound from the right of the crease and Joel Farabee put in a wrist shot from the top of the crease for his third tally of the year. 

     Florida(11-3-1) tied it up 1-1 at 5:32 of the second period. Aleksander Barkov backhanded a pass from the center-zone dot. Evan Rodrigues carried it into the Flyers zone to the left wing. Nate Schmidt then blasted a one-time slap shot from the left point past Samuel Errson for his second goal in a Panthers uniform. 

     The Panthers jumped to a 2-1 lead at the 8:40 mark of the second. Dmitry Kulikov slid the puck to Rodrigues in the left circle. He centered it and Kulikov placed in a snap shot from the slot area for his second goal this season. Sam Reinhart was credited with a secondary assist on the play and extended his point streak to seven games. 

     The Flyers made it 2-2 with seven minutes to go in the second. Rasmus Ristolainen dropped a pass as he entered the Panthers zone. Tomas Konecny passed from the right point and Anthony Richard collected his second goal on a wrist shot from the top of the zone. 

     The Cats regained the lead 3-2 with 5:03 remaining in the period. Niko Mikkola sent a square pass from the high slot. Carter Verhaeghe made a diagonal touch pass from the left circle and Sam Bennett rifled a slap shot from the right of the crease for his ninth goal of the campaign. It turned out to be the 300th NHL point for Bennett. 

     In the third period, Philadelphia evened it up 3-3 with 10:13 to go. Nick Seeler cleared the puck from behind his own net with an outlet pass to his left. Laughton pushed a cross-ice pass at the Flyers blue line. Garnet Hathaway carried the puck down the ice into the Panthers zone. He backhanded a shot from the low left circle that went off the right skate of Uvis Balinskis and into the Panthers cage for his second goal of the year. 

     The Panthers prevailed in the shootout. Barkov steered in a one-handed backhand shot on Florida's first attempt. Former Panther Owen Tippett tied the shootout on the Flyers second attempt with a delayed forehand shot. The Cats finished it off in the fifth round when Rodrigues backhanded the puck into the cage.