Steve Mason lifts Flyers past Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla.-- Steve Mason made 38 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-1 win against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Tuesday.
Mason earned his fifth win of the season despite Florida outshooting Philadelphia 39-28.

"Right from start to finish I thought he was very good, very sharp," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "He was seeing the puck well. Part of it is reading the play and then working to find the puck. They do a good job in the offensive zone. They have a lot of movement and they're not shy about putting pucks to the net. He did a great job for us."
The Flyers (9-8-3) ended the four-game winning streak of Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo, who made 25 saves.
WATCH: All Flyers vs. Panthers highlights
Reilly Smith broke Mason's shutout with a tip-in for his fourth goal of the season with 1:51 left in the third period.
Wayne Simmonds gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 11:11 of the first period with his 10th goal. Dale Weise made it 2-0 at 13:03 of the second period off a power-play rebound that bounced out of Luongo's glove. Cousins scored on a power play at 7:04 of the third period off a feed from Simmonds for a 3-0 lead.

The Panthers (10-9-1) outshot the Flyers 14-9 in the first period, but Mason made several big saves, including two each on Derek MacKenzie and Aaron Ekblad.
"Florida had some really good chances," Weise said. "[Mason] played unbelievable. He made some game-changing saves. He was the best player on the ice."

Goal of the game

Colton Sceviour won a faceoff to Mason's right and passed the puck back to defenseman Keith Yandle, who mishandled it. Simmonds pounced and took off down the ice on a 2-on-1 with Travis Konecny and scored top shelf on Luongo.

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Saves of the game

Mason denied Smith twice -- once on a slap shot from close range and once on a rebound -- to protect a 2-0 lead at 3:03 of the third period.

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Highlight of the game

Simmons perfectly threaded a pass to Cousins, who went in alone on Luongo and scored blocker side. He then took a tumble while celebrating but laughed about it after the game.
"I was going so fast, I ran into the boards there," Cousins said. "I tried to turn quickly and celebrate but I lost an edge there. I just watched the replay, my buddy sent it to me, it's pretty funny."

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Unsung moment of the game

The Panthers were putting pressure on Mason during a power play midway through second period after a Shayne Gostisbehere tripping penalty, but Flyers forward Claude Giroux and Panthers forward Jonathan Marchessault got into a skirmish in the corner behind Mason that stopped play.
They each were penalized for roughing, and soon after, the Panthers turned over the puck in the neutral zone trying to get a shorthanded opportunity. Weise scored, and Luongo slammed his stick on the ice in frustration.

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They said it

"I don't think I've had a start that poorly offensively at any level: junior, minors, NHL, anywhere. It was definitely wearing on me. I've had some chances, too, where I should be scoring and I didn't. It just feels like a relief." -- Flyers forward Dale Weise on his first goal of the season in his 16th game
"We made some bad decisions with the puck. We turned a couple over and it goes down the other end. You have to kill the penalty; that's the No. 1 goal." -- Panthers coach Gerard Gallant

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Need to know

Flyers forward Sean Couturier left the game at 1:40 of the second period after getting tangled up with Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck. Couturier sprained his left MCL, CSN Philadelphia reported. The Flyers said Couturier would be re-evaluated on Wednesday. He has five goals and eight points this season. … Flyers goalie Anthony Stolarz is expected to make his NHL debut on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. … Panthers forward Nick Bjugstad played his first game since he injured his wrist on Oct. 4. He played right wing on a line with Denis Malgin and Sceviour for the first time, having played center since his college days at the University of Minnesota. He played 11:18 in 16 shifts.

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What's next

Panthers: Home against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Flyers: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TCN-PH NHL.TV)