(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Rob Riches, Sports Talk Philly contributor
For the first 50 minutes of their matchup with the Panthers on Thursday, the Flyers couldn't catch a break offensively. They had all but unraveled in the second period, and were well on their way to a hard-luck loss.
Then, help arrived in the form of a new guy. Valtteri Filppula buried a one-timer from Brayden Schenn, and the Flyers were tied with 9:22 to play. Decent way to make a first impression, right?
Five minutes of three-on-three overtime wasn't enough to produce a winner, and the game headed to a shootout. Jakub Voracek put the Flyers ahead, while Steve Mason capped off his magnificent game by turning away Jonathan Huberdeau for the 2-1 win.
Neither the Flyers nor the Panthers could amount to much of anything, until the 11:38 mark of the second. Aaron Ekblad had completely roasted Claude Giroux for a shorthanded tally — the first of his career. From there, the Flyers continued to disintegrate, and looked completely hapless in the defensive zone.
Midway through the third stanza, Filppula crashed the net to tip home Schenn's feed. The Flyers finally found a way to crack Roberto Luongo, and rode that wave of momentum to the extra period.
After five more shots on Luongo, the game headed to a shootout. Jordan Weal got the Flyers going with a goal to open it, while Mason turned aside Vincent Trocheck. Claude Giroux missed, while Aleksander Barkov netted a beauty. Then, Voracek scored, Mason saved, and the Flyers came away with two points.
Mason stood tall for the Orange and Black, saving 39 of 40 shots. Luongo answered the bell for the Panthers, making 48 of 49 (!) saves.
In his first game as alternate captain, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare finished with a workmanlike game. Two shots, two hits and four of eight faceoff wins, all in 9:07 of ice time.
Filppula, on the other hand, scored one goal on three shots. He won eight of 14 faceoffs, and registered 15:12 of ice time on the second line.
Subsequently, the Flyers' season series against the Panthers ends with a three-game sweep. This is the first time since the 2005-06 season that the Flyers swept the Panthers in a season series, and second time overall. It also sets a new franchise record, with six shootout wins in a season.
The Orange and Black return to the ice on Saturday, taking on the red-hot Washington Capitals on the road.
