Mar 27 2009
Flyers fall to Panthers
The Flyers can’t seem to figure out how to beat the Florida Panthers. In their past two games against Florida, Philly has out-shot them 77-55, but has been outscored 7-4. In addition, the Flyers are 0-for-7 on the power play during those two contests, while the Panthers are 3-for-8. Despite the loss, the Flyers remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 90 points, but the Carolina Hurricanes (89 points), Pittsburgh Penguins (88 points), and New York Rangers (87 points) are not far behind. However, the Flyers have three games in hand over Carolina and two games in hand over both Pittsburgh and New York, so hopefully they’ll be able to take advantage of those extra remaining games.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Cory Stillman deflected Jay Bouwmeester’s shot from the point over Martin Biron’s shoulder for a power play goal. Philly evened the score in the second period when Jeff Carter fired a wrist shot past Florida’s back-up netminder Craig Anderson, who stopped 40 shots. The goal was Carter’s team-leading 41st of the season. The game didn’t remain tied for long as only 23 seconds later, Keith Ballard’s shot ricocheted off Biron’s pad and Radek Dvorak fired in the rebound for a 2-1 Panthers advantage. The Flyers answered with just 3.8 seconds left in the second period when Scott Hartnell received Carter’s pass from behind the net and lit the lamp on Scott Hartnell Wig Night as the teams entered the intermission tied 2-2.
Early in the third period, Brett McLean scored the go-ahead goal when Flyers defenseman Andrew Alberts turned the puck over in his zone, and McLean took took advantage of a wide-open rebound in front of Biron, who made 24 saves. Despite the fact that Philly fired 15 shots during the final period, they couldn’t find the back of the net. David Booth sealed Florida’s 4-2 win with an empty-net, power-play goal with 32.5 seconds remaining.
The Flyers return to the ice tomorrow night when they hit the road to take on the New York Islanders. The last time that these two teams met, it was a Valentine’s Day massacre for the Isles as the Flyers rolled to a 5-1 win. Philly cannot afford another loss to a non-playoff team.
Let’s Go Flyers!
