Flyers get past Panthers to stop 5-game slide

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Noah Cates scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and the Philadelphia Flyers ended a five-game losing streak by defeating the Florida Panthers 2-1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

Travis Konecny scored, and Samuel Ersson made 20 saves for the Flyers (26-19-6).

The Flyers trailed 1-0 after the first period, when they were outshot 10-5. Florida had an early 15-1 advantage in shot attempts and ended the game with a 66-56 edge.

“I thought we played a good two periods,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “The last two periods, we played better. We were just watching them play. We needed to get back to our personality -- and that was not it. … We have a good team, a team that’s willing. We just need the right mindset that we can play with these teams. Take a chance. We cannot be safe.”

Carter Verhaeghe scored, and Anthony Stolarz made 23 saves for the Panthers (31-15-4), who had won four straight overall but have now lost five of their past six at home.

“I did not like our game and that we weren’t where we need to be,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I’m not particularly worried about it, just didn’t like the way we played. I don’t feel we were well prepared. We played a good first, relative to the second and third, which wasn’t good. But no one is being sent down, no one is getting cut.”

It was the first game for each team since the NHL All-Star break, with both last playing 10 days ago.

Florida forward Sam Reinhart had his NHL career-high 13-game point streak end (18 points; 14 goals, four assists).

Verhaeghe gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead on the power play at 9:22 of the first period with his 25th of the season. He picked off a clearing pass along the wall, skated toward the left face-off circle and put a wrist shot over the shoulder of Ersson.

“They played in our face and credit them, because they are a good team and in [playoff position] for a reason,” Verhaeghe said. “The pucks were bouncing out there, the execution was not our best. … In the playoffs, there is no space out there and you have to find your breaks.”

Konecny tied it 1-1 at 13:33 of the second period, scoring over Stolarz’s glove on a breakaway. Sean Walker sent a stretch pass to Joel Farabee, who fed a driving Konecny.

Cates put Philadelphia ahead 2-1 at 2:36 of the third after intercepting a cross-ice pass by Gustav Forsling deep in the Florida zone. Cates worked his way to the net and backhanded a shot underneath Stolarz’s blocker for his first goal in 23 games.

“The best defense is playing in their zone and be hard to play against in all three zones,” Cates said. “It was big coming in after the first and not being hurt too bad, being able to find our game again.”

Tortorella credited Ersson for keeping the Flyers in the game early with the Panthers coming out on the attack.

“We could have been out of it during the third period,’’ Tortorella said.

Ersson only had to make three saves in the third despite Florida having a power play midway through the period and later pulling Stolarz for the extra skater.

“It felt nice to come back, especially after that Boston game,” Ersson said, referring to being pulled after allowing four goals in the first period in his previous start, a 6-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Jan. 27. “It was important for me to bounce back, to show that. Good win for us, huge coming out of the break and kind of kicking off this second half of the season.”

NOTES: Cates scored his second goal of the season and first since Oct. 24 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Seven of his 19 NHL goals have been game-winners. … Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk had his five-game point streak end (nine points; four goals, five assists). He had scored at least a point in 14 of his previous 15 games (27 points; 11 goals, 16 assists). … Stolarz has allowed two or fewer goals in seven of his past eight starts. … Reinhart’s point streak is the second-longest in Panthers history, behind Mike Hoffman (17 games from Oct. 13-Nov. 21, 2018). … Florida forward Nick Cousins played 13:05 in his return after missing 12 games with a concussion sustained on a hit from Arizona Coyotes forward Jason Zucker during a 4-1 win Jan. 2. Zucker was suspended three games by the NHL Department of Player Safety.