Huberdeau’s Shorthanded Goal Sinks Flyers Against Panthers

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Just like Wednesday's game, the Flyers were in a situation where winning the third period could result in the two points desired. A mistake while on the man-advantage prevented that from happening.

Jonathan Huberdeau's second goal of the game came on a rebound following a shorthanded breakaway, allowing the Florida Panthers to pick up a 4-2 win on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center. 

The Flyers and Panthers both spent much of the first period limiting opportunities and clogging up the neutral zone. The Flyers had a power play five minutes into the game and couldn't generate much offensive-zone time. The Panthers also had a power play that resulted in one early chance, before the Flyers settled in.

With 3:05 to play in the period, Nick Seeler took the Flyers' second straight interference penalty. That allowed the Panthers to get the game's first goal, as just five seconds into the power play, Huberdeau sniped a shot from the left circle to open the scoring.

Through 20 minutes, shots were 10-6 Florida. 

An early power-play opportunity for the Flyers produced a goal. Claude Giroux fired a shot high past Sergei Bobrovsky to even the score at one with his third goal of the season at 4:23.

With Florida back on the power play midway through the period, it was the Flyers getting the scoring chance and taking advantage. Cam Atkinson stole the puck at the blue line and moved in on a shorthanded breakaway, beating Bobrovsky through the five-hole to make it a 2-1 Flyers lead with his fourth goal of the season.

Late in the period, the Flyers were closing in on a solid middle frame before a transition rush proved costly. The Panthers converted on a three-on-two with Owen Tippett getting the tip-in goal with 26.6 seconds remaining in the period. A tripping penalty on Ivan Provorov 11 seconds later allowed the Panthers to begin the third period on the power play.

Through two periods, the Panthers had a 23-17 lead in shots.

The Flyers killed off the remaining power-play time to start the third, and another Florida power play minutes later. They would get a power play of their own with a chance to go in front.

That's when poor puck management proved to be costly. The Panthers got a shorthanded breakaway from Huberdeau after a turnover. Carter Hart made the initial save, but Huberdeau was able to stay with it and bank it off of Hart's pad and in for his second goal of the game at 7:53.

The Flyers applied pressure late in the period, but could not get the equalizer this time, as Sam Reinhart scored into an empty-net to ice the game.

Hart finished the game with 27 saves on 30 shots. Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 29 in the win.

Huberdeau also had an assist for a three-point game. The Flyers were 1-for-4 on the power play, while Florida was 1-for-7.

The Flyers are off until Wednesday, when they hit the road for the first time to face the Edmonton Oilers at 10 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• FLA Jonathan Huberdeau (1) PP (Aaron Ekblad, Patric Hornqvist) 17:00

2nd Period

• PHI Claude Giroux (3) PP (Sean Couturier) 4:23
• PHI Cam Atkinson (4) SH (Unassisted) 10:53
• FLA Owen Tippett (1) (MacKenzie Weegar, Huberdeau) 19:33

3rd Period

• FLA Huberdeau (2) SH (Sam Bennett) 7:53
• FLA Sam Reinhart (2) EN (Mason Marchment, Anton Lundell) 18:48

Game Statistics