Panthers 5, Flyers 2
PHILADELPHIA -- Nineteen-year-old rookie Jonathan Huberdeau had two goals and an assist, Scott Clemmensen made 34 saves and the Florida Panthers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Peter Mueller also scored two goals and Tomas Kopecky had one for the Panthers, who were winless in their previous five games (0-2-3).
Florida's previous win also was in Philadelphia, a 3-2 shootout victory on Feb 7.
Coming off a frantic 6-5 win over the rival Penguins on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, the Flyers couldn't ride the emotions of their thrilling victory. They fell to 8-10-1 with their first loss in three games.
Luke Schenn snapped Clemmensen's shutout attempt in the third period and Jakub Voracek scored his fourth goal in two games for the Flyers.
Mueller gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead 8:15 into the first period when he fired a shot upstairs over Ilya Bryzgalov's blocker. Huberdeau set it up with a perfect pass from near the left circle through two defenders.
Just 29 seconds later, Kopecky took advantage of a turnover, broke in alone and snapped a shot past Bryzgalov. The 2-0 deficit prompted Flyers coach Peter Laviolette to call a
timeout. It didn't work.
A few minutes later, Huberdeau had a one-on-none breakaway before getting pulled down from behind by Kimmo Timonen. Huberdeau was awarded a penalty shot and he slipped a shot between Bryzgalov's legs. Bryzgalov tossed his stick over the net in a show of frustration, but
Laviolette left him on the ice.
He didn't last long, however. After Huberdeau scored on the power play to make it 4-0 in the second period, Bryzgalov was yanked. Brian Boucher came in to the usual "Boosh" chants from fans. Bryzgalov threw his stick down the tunnel as he headed to the locker room.
Schenn fired a slap shot past Clemmensen to cut it to 4-1. Mueller scored 44 seconds later, but Voracek finished answered 62 seconds afterward.
NOTES: Flyers center Matt Read will miss six weeks with torn rib cage muscles after taking a crunching hit from Pittsburgh's Chris Kunitz on Wednesday night. Read is the third top-line player to get injured this season. Danny Briere missed the first four games and Scott Hartnell has been out of the lineup for a month. ... Mueller's goal was his first in eight games. ... Huberdeau has goals in three of the last five games. ... Bryzgalov has allowed five goals in the first period in the last two games. ... The teams met for the third and final time this season after each won on the road.
