RECAP: Flyers 4, Panthers 2

SUNRISE, Fla. – Missing out on at least one point, the Florida Panthers surrendered the go-ahead goal in the final minute of a 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.

With the loss, Florida now sits at 12-10-1.

“They played hard,” defenseman Seth Jones said. “We played a pretty hard game. It was back and forth all night. It just sucks to not come out on top of that.”

The Panthers broke the ice early in the first period when Sam Bennett drove to the net and set up Brad Marchand for a goal from the doorstep to make it 1-0 at 5:21 of the first period.

After recording the first four shots on goal, the Flyers finished the period with only seven.

“The first and second [periods], I thought we were really quick with the puck and our decisions,” head coach Paul Maurice said.

Doubling the lead in the second period, Carter Verhaeghe, who racked up three points during Monday’s win in Nashville, finished off a slick passing sequence when he took a nifty dish from Bennett and ripped a shot into the back of the cage to make it 2-0 at 5:16.

Over his last two games, Verhaeghe has tallied five points (2G, 3A).

“Our line is playing pretty well,” Verhaeghe said. “We’re getting in on the forecheck, getting some action. Sometimes it comes; sometimes it doesn’t. We’re trying to keep it going.”

Getting the Flyers on the board, Emil Andrae buried a point shot to make it 2-1 at 7:57.

Not long after that, the Flyers found the equalizer when Matvei Michkov set up in the slot and tipped in a shot from Andrae under Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker to make it 2-2 at 11:13.

Despite carrying play for much of the third period, the Panthers couldn’t slip a third goal past Vladar, who stopped 25 of 27 shots between the pipes for Philadelphia.

Keeping the Panthers from getting at least one valuable point, the Flyers ended up being the ones to break the stalemate. After having his first shot blocked by Aaron Ekblad, Tyson Foerster sent the puck into the twine to make it 3-2 with 44.5 seconds left on the clock.

Sean Couturier then followed with another goal to lock in the 4-2 win for the Flyers.

“I liked the first two periods an awful lot,” Maurice said. “I thought it was a well played game. We were slow in the third on plays that cost us some zone time. We had a hard time boxing out in front of the net, but everything came from the top. A tough way to lose.”

THEY SAID IT

“I thought we were slow with the puck [in the third period]. I think they got in on some pucks. We were just late to some loose pucks that were laying around, and they maintained that control.” – Paul Maurice

“It was a hard-fought battle. They played well. It’s a fast game. It sucks losing that way.” – Carter Verhaeghe

“They’re a good team. That’s the third time we’ve played them this year. They’ve played us hard every single game. They really get in on the forecheck.” – Seth Jones

CATS STATS

- Carter Verhaeghe scored his 142nd goal with the Panthers, tying Nathan Horton for eighth most in franchise history.

- The Panthers led 18-5 in scoring chances in the first period.

- Evan Rodrigues went 6-for-7 (85.7%) in the faceoff circle.

- Aaron Ekblad blocked a team-high three shots.

WHAT’S NEXT?

After loading up on turkey, the Panthers will return from Thanksgiving to host the Calgary Flames at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday at 4 p.m. ET.

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