PHILADELPHIA – The Florida Panthers got off to a slow start this season but have now won five straight after a 2-1 win over the Flyers Tuesday night.
Aaron Ekblad and Evgenii Dadonov scored in the second period to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes.
Right Wing Wayne Simmonds (#17) of the Philadelphia Flyers gets into a shoving match with Defenseman MacKenzieÊWeegarÊ(#52) of the Florida Panthers after the whistle.
Ekblad had not scored since March of this year.
“It’s been a while,” Ekblad said. “I’ve never waited this long to score a goal at any level. It’s tough mentally to stay resilient.”
Mike Hoffman tied a franchise record with an assist in the Florida win; his point streak is now at 13 games.
“Anytime you can help this team win hockey games is what you’re looking to do,” Hoffman said. “Other things are cool to look at back once I’m a bit older, at my success in the League. Right now the focus is winning hockey games.”
Roberto Luongo made 30 saves to get the win.
Florida improved to 7-5-3.
Jakub Voracek scored early in the third period to get the Flyers close but the Florida defense and Luongo kept the Flyers to the outside most of the night.
“We definitely didn’t play our game [the] first two periods,” the Flyers’ Claude Giroux said. “We know we can play better and in the third we started playing the way we can, we made a push for it, but it was a little too late.”
The Flyers dropped to 9-8-1.
[WATCH: All Panthers vs. Flyers highlights]
Brian Elliott made 28 saves in the loss.
“The intensity, I don’t think was up to what I think we need [it] to be. I thought we brought it in the third period but it’s a little late. We hit some posts. We had our chances to tie it up. It’s just unfortunate and frustrating that we didn’t go into extra innings there,” Elliott said after the loss.
Players from the Philadelphia Flyers and Florida Panthers scramble for the puck in the closing second of Tuesday night’s game.
Goalie RobertoÊ LuongoÊ (#1) of the Florida Panthers, Right Wing Dale Weise (#22) of the Philadelphia Flyers and Defenseman BogdanÊ KiselevichÊ (#55) of the Florida Panthers.
Defenseman AaronÊEkbladÊ (#5) assists his Goalie RobertoÊLuongoÊ(#1) of the Florida Panthers
Center Sean Couturier (#14) of the Philadelphia Flyersand Defenseman AaronÊEkbladÊ (#5) of the Florida Panthers battle for positon.
Philadelphia Flyers Goalie Brian Elliott (#37) looks past Defenseman Radko Gudas (#3) of the Philadelphia Flyers and Center Aleksander ÊBarkov (#16) of the Florida Panthers as they battle for position in front of the net.
Goalie Brian Elliott (#37) of the Philadelphia Flyers makes a stick save in the first period against the Florida Panthers.
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