RECAP: Panthers 7, Flyers 5

PHILADELPHIA – That’s what you call two points the hard way.

After letting an early lead slip away, the Florida Panthers came from behind in the third period to end their road trip with a 7-5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

Winners in four of their last five games, the Panthers now sit at 16-9-2.

“That was a wild one,” said Carter Verhaeghe after the game.

Dominant once again, Matthew Tkachuk led the Panthers with his second straight four-point game.

Per NHL PR, he is the first player in franchise history with multiple back-to-back four-point outings.

“He’s on a heater,” said Evan Rodrigues of Tkachuk. “He’s heavier on the forecheck. He’s getting into scrums. That’s his game.”

Starting out quick, Rodrigues won the puck battle over Tyson Foerster before deking out Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov to put the Panthers up 1-0 at 2:36 of the first period.

Doubling the lead, Niko Mikkola ripped a shot top-shelf to make it 2-0 at 6:57.

Assisting on the goal, Tkachuk extended his point streak to five games.

A physical first period, the Panthers out hit the Flyers 18-9.

Making a change in net after the first, Alexsei Kolosov replaced Fedotov in Philadelphia’s net.

Initially appearing to extend their lead to 3-0 on the power play, the Panthers had a goal for Verhaeghe come off the board after the Flyers successfully challenged for goaltender interference.

Undeterred, the Panthers, who were still on the power play, stuck to the plan and found the back of the net once again when Aleksander Barkov beat Kolosov with a beautiful top-shelf backhand shot after some very nifty passing from Sam Reinhart and Tkachuk make it 3-0 at the three-minute mark.

With the helper, Reinhart dished out his 300^th career assist.

Responding with their own power play goal, Foerster cut Philadelphia’s deficit to 3-1 at 7:13.

Bringing the Flyers to within a goal, Nick Seeler lit the lamp with a wrist shot to make it 3-2 at 9:31.

Getting redemption on the power play after his earlier called back goal, Verhaeghe wristed in his eighth of the year to put Florida ahead 4-2 at 13:35.

Singlehandedly evening the score for the Flyers, former Panther Owen Tippett brought the score to 4-4 in the closing minutes of the period, finding the back of the net twice in a span of 23 seconds.

A tale of two periods, the Panthers had a 54% offensive advantage in the first, while the Flyers had a 57% offensive advantage in the second, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

“They’re smart enough where there wasn’t anything I needed to say in that room tonight that they haven’t heard a thousand times in the last two and a half years,” said head coach Paul Maurice.

Controlling momentum into the third period, Garnet Hathaway gave the Flyers their first lead of the game when he netted his third of the season at 5:36 to make it 5-4.

With the action at 4-on-4, Gustav Forsling stunned Kolosov with a long range wrister to clean the slate for the Panthers and make it 5-5 at 14:43.

Reaching a boiling point in the physicality department in the third after trading hits, Forsling and Joel Farabee traded some quick jabs after Farabee cross-checked Sam Bennett along the boards.

Not known for his fighting, teammates appreciated Forsling answering the bell.

“I think I’ve seen it once before,” said Verhaeghe. “He’s a great teammate and he’s just trying to stick up for his teammate.”

With the Panthers on the power play after Farabee headed to the box for the aforementioned incident, Reinhart sent the Panthers ahead when he buried a one-timer from the left circle to make it 6-5 at 18:01 with his NHL-leading 19^th goal of the season.

Shining bright against one of the top penalty kills in the league, the Panthers went 4-for-5 with the extra attacker.

Locking in the win, Tkachuk cashed in on the empty net to make it 7-5 with 11 seconds left on the clock.

“We’ll take the win, but it’s not one we are necessarily proud of,” said Verhaeghe.

THEY SAID IT

“He was strong and probably the guy I liked the most on the blue line tonight.” – Paul Maurice on Gustav Forsling

“We know what makes us successful.” – Evan Rodrigues on getting back to playing their game

CATS STATS

• Matthew Tkachuk has logged multiple assists in three straight games.
• Sam Bennett led the team with 7 hits
• Ten different Panthers blocked a shot
• Aleksander Barkov won a team-high 11 face-offs.
• The Panthers led 26-23 in scoring chances.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Back to the warm weather.

A quick one-game homestand, the Panthers will host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena at 6 p.m. ET.

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