Foiled in Florida: Luongo, Panthers down Flyers

The Flyers took nine shots in the first 20 minutes of a listless first period. They took 28 shots after. Only the last one found the back of the net.

Roberto Luongo stopped the other 36 though, while Willie Mitchell and Aaron Ekblad scored in the Panthers 2-1 win over the Flyers on Saturday night at BB&T Center.

Mitchell's goal came at 9:07 of the first. After a turnover at the Flyers blue line by Mark Streit led to the goal. Mitchell's shot from the point changed direction after hitting Nick Grossmann.

That score would hold into the waning moments of the third. The Flyers had six power-play opportunities, including a 5-on-3 mid-way through the period, but failed to score as they failed to get many quality scoring chances against the Panthers defense. On the shots that did get through, Luongo was up to the task.

A late power play for the Panthers led to the second goal. The 18-year-old rookie Ekblad, playing in his ninth NHL game, scored on a blast from the blue line for his first NHL goal.

Steve Mason, who made 28 saves in the loss, was pulled with over three minutes to play as the Flyers desperately tried to beat Luongo. Most of the shot attempts were foiled again, but one finally got through in the closing seconds as Vincent Lecavalier scored on a rebound to beat Luongo with 7.4 seconds left in the game. 

Jake Voracek assisted on Lecavalier's goal, extending his points streak to five games. 

The loss drops the Flyers to 4-5-2 on the season. The loss also drops Mason's record to 0-4-1 on the season.

The Flyers return to action on Tuesday night when they return home to face the Edmonton Oilers. The opening face-off is at 7 p.m.

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.