Panthers hold off Flyers’ second-period surge for a 6-3 victory

SUNRISE, Fla. — After the Florida Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the first period Thursday night at FLA Live Arena, the Flyers could have slumped in defeat and played on their heels for the next 40 minutes.

But after center Scott Laughton took a hit along the boards in the defensive zone that left him lying motionless on the ice, the Flyers ramped up the intensity and made the Panthers pay. The Flyers clawed their way to within 4-3 with three straight goals from James van Riemsdyk, Cam Atkinson, and Travis Konecny in the second period.

“It was a great response from our group,” goalie Carter Hart said. “Just shows the character that we have. They’re a good hockey team. We know that. But for us to battle back and get into that game after being down four, that speaks volumes.”

Their efforts, however, weren’t enough to overcome the Panthers, who held off the Flyers’ surge for a 6-3 victory. Seven minutes into the third period, the Panthers notched their third power-play goal of the night when center Patrick Brown redirected a pass from winger Anthony Duclair into the back of his own net. A Sam Reinhart empty-net goal, earning him a hat trick, served as the dagger.

The Flyers’ self-inflected wounds proved to be their downfall, as the Panthers scored on all three power-play opportunities handed to them, two of which came in the first period.

“It’s not always about what you give,” interim coach Mike Yeo said. “It’s also about what you cost the team.”

With their loss to the Panthers, the Flyers’ winning streak ended at two games. They have not had a three-game winning streak since Dec. 10-14.

The Flyers have struggled lately to keep pucks on their sticks, especially in their game on March 3 against the Minnesota Wild in which they had 15 giveaways. Panthers takeaways on Thursday night led to similar strife for the Flyers.

In the moments leading up to the Panthers’ first goal of the night, the Flyers were attempting to clear their own zone. Defenseman Travis Sanheim passed the puck ahead for center Kevin Hayes, whose bouncing pass for Brown in the neutral zone was picked off by defenseman Aaron Ekblad. He passed the puck to Aleksander Barkov, who tapped it to Carter Verhaeghe in transition. Verhaeghe carried the puck into the slot and scored on a wrist shot to put the Panthers up, 1-0.

“It’s part of managing the game, especially against a team like that where we knew how high-octane they were and you’ve got to try to make it hard on them as far as not giving them anything easy and executing,” van Riemsdyk said. “That’s part of the stuff of being good on the lines and not turning pucks over and letting them have easy transitions, because that’s where they’re probably the best team in the league at that.”

On Thursday morning, the Flyers announced they signed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to a five-year, $25.5 million contract extension. Ristolainen put a dark cloud over his celebratory day in the first period against the Panthers when he took two penalties, a high-sticking call and an interference minor, to put the potent Panthers on the power play.

Going into the game, the Panthers boasted the league’s 12th-ranked power play overall (22.7%) and ninth-ranked at home (24.0%). Much to the Flyers’ despair, the Panthers capitalized on each of Ristolainen’s penalties. On the first power play, Reinhart camped out in the front of the net all alone, deflecting Jonathan Huberdeau’s shot past Hart to put the Panthers up, 2-0. Four minutes later, Reinhart capitalized again on the second power play when he swatted a rebound into the net, giving the Panthers a three-goal lead.

“We all know how good their power play is and might not agree with the call, but got to stay out of the box and can’t take those penalties,” Ristolainen said.

Although the Panthers scored a whopping four goals in the first period alone, their lead could’ve been doubled easily if not for the efforts of Hart. With less than eight minutes to go in the period, the Panthers flaunted their speedy transition game with a two-man rush between Barkov and center Maxim Mamin. Barkov passed the puck across the slot to Mamin, who tapped a pass to a late-arriving MacKenzie Weegar. Hart made a save on Weegar and snatched up the rebound.

Hart’s solid play allowed the Flyers to mount a comeback after going down 4-0. Goals from van Riemsdyk, Atkinson, and Konecny showed that the Flyers weren’t going to back down easily against the Atlantic Division leaders.

“I thought Hartsy kept battling all night, which is a great thing,” Yeo said. “And obviously, that second period is probably the best second period we’ve played all year.”

The Flyers’ road trip continues when they face off against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday at 3 p.m.