Philadelphia Flyers
It was the Flyers jumping out to a 3-0 first-period lead and extending it to 4-0 by the end of the second. Two quick Florida goals threatened the Flyers lead, but they added two late insurance goals to seal a 6-2 win over the Panthers.
The Flyers next opponent is one they defeated just days ago. The Flyers took care of the Florida Panthers in a 4-1 win on Monday night. Now the two teams meet again in Florida on Thursday night.
The Flyers loss to the Islanders on Tuesday will be remembered for a last-minute goal that took away the potential victory and at least a single point for reaching overtime. It should be another example of how slow starts to games can be detrimental to this team and their playoff hopes.
Less than a minute after tying the game to erase a 3-0 deficit, the Flyers surrendered the game-winning goal to Ryan Pulock with 38.9 seconds left in a 5-3 defeat to the New York Islanders.
Wins for both the Flyers and Islanders on Monday set the stage for a meeting between the two teams on Tuesday. The two teams are separated by one point in the standings.
In his return to the lineup on Monday, the first game in a stretch of six against teams right in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race, the first shot Carter Hart faced found the net. Hart responded by stopping the next 30 that the Panthers took in the Flyers 4-1 win.
Carter Hart was solid in his return to the lineup and the Flyers picked up a 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers to maintain their pace in the playoff race.
The Flyers next six games come against teams right in the thick of the playoff race. For now, the focus is simply on the next one, which comes against the Florida Panthers at Wells Fargo Center on Monday night.
Claude Giroux’s struggles to put up points this season is no secret, though the Flyers captain had three points in a win in Washington on Saturday to reach 800 for his career. This week, the guys discuss Giroux’s struggles, among various other topics.
“It was a strong team win, we had saves at the right time, but go figure, we were able to score seven tonight and weren’t able to score one last game.” Go figure is right. After getting shut out by the last-place Devils on Thursday, the Flyers scored seven goals against the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals. “It’s the beauty of the game,” Vigneault said with a smile.
