Panthers fall to Flyers
Philadelphia uses four-goal second period to pull away.
PHILADELPHIA — Sean Couturier, Shayne Gostisbehere, Claude Giroux and Dale Weise scored in the second period to l e a d t he Phi l adel phi a Flyers to a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
The Flyers followed an 8-2 win against Washington with another dominant offffffffffffensive effffffffffffort, capped by the fourgoal second.
Wayne Simmonds stole the show after the fourth goal when he dropped agitated Panthers center Michael Haley with a left-handed punch. Simmonds waved his arms toward the crowd and exhorted them to get louder as he skated toward the locker room to serve his major penalty. He high- fifififififived fans and the orange- andblack faithful went wild for a period on the short list of the best in three years under coach Dave Hakstol.
Michal Neuvirth made the lead stand with 40 saves in his fifirst win of the season. Valtteri Filppula scored an empty-netter for the Flyers.
Jamie McGinn spoiled the shutout with his fifirst goal of the season that made it 4-1 late in the third.
The Flyers are deep, fast, attack in waves, and are suddenly one of the more formidable offffffffffffenses in the league a year after missing the playoffffffffffffs. They scored fifive goals in the season opener, scored another fifive in one of their only two losses, and pounded the Capitals for a stunning eight goals.
That the Flyers ran up the score against a Panthers team that swept them last season (3-0) made it more impressive.
The Flyers actually went scoreless on 11 shots against Roberto Luongo in the fifirst before breaking through in the second.
The Panthers allowed the fifirst goal for the fififth straight game.