POSTGAME 5: Hart, Balanced Offense Spur 6-3 Win over Panthers

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Florida Panthers, 6-3, at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday evening. An outstanding goaltending performance by Carter Hart, and active offensive game from the defense corps and pockets of tenacious forechecking led the way for the Flyers.

A first period deflection goal by Matthew Tkachuk (34th of the season) at 1:15 was answered by a Joel Farabee redirect (12th) at 4:43. Farabee has scored in three straight games after going 26 games without a goal.
The Flyers outscored Florida by a 4-1 margin in the middle stanza. After Travis Sanheim (6th) pinched in and scored at 8:42 to give Philly a 2-1 lead, Florida defensemen Brandon Montour (13th) scored from the right circle at 14:17. The Flyers then exploded for three unanswered goals in quick fashion as Scott Laughton (16th) made it 3-2 at 16:54, Sanheim scored again (second of the game, 7th of the season) at 18:05 and then Ivan Provorov (5th) jumped into the play and scored at 18:55 to open a three-goal lead.
In the third period, Sam Reinhart (27th) scored on the final tick of a 6-on-4 power play with the goalie pulled at 13:49. A Tyson Foerster blocked shot led to a Morgan Frost empty net goal (14th) at 17:59.
Hart stopped 41 of 44 shots to earn the victory. He was especially good in the first and third periods. Former Flyers and Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon absorbed the loss with 18 saves on 23 shots.
The Flyers received multi-point games from Sanheim (2g), Farabee (1g, 1a), Frost (1g, 1a), Tyson Foerster (2a), Noah Cates (2a), and Egor Zamula (2a). Provorov (1g), Laughton (1g), Brendan Lemieux (1a, 17 PIM), and Tony DeAngelo (1a) chipped in one point apiece as 10 different Philly players got on the scoresheet.
The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. The Panthers were 1-for-4.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 74 Owen Tippett
21 Brendan Lemieux - 48 Morgan Frost - 52 Tyson Foerster
25 James van Riemsdyk . 13 Kevin Hayes - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 21 Scott Laughton - xxxxx
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
54 Egor Zamula
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
TURNING POINT
The three-goal outburst by the Flyers late in the second period put them firmly in the driver's seat. Additionally, the Flyers very effectively activated their defensemen in the attack throughout the game. The Flyers' forecheck was a major factor in the team turning a 2-2 deadlock into a 5-2 lead in the second period.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) Florida scored on the game's second shot. The Panthers gained possession in the neutral zone and went in 3-on-2.Tkachuk directed a Carter Verhaeghe slap pass into the net as he barreled down the slot. The secondary assist went to Eetu Luostarinen at1:15.
JVR went to the box at 1:28 of the first period. for a neutral zone holding penalty against Marc Staal. Hart and the penalty kill stepped up. By the 2:54 mark of the period, shots were 7-0 Florida.
The Flyers tied the game on their first shot of the game. Farabee deflected home a Cates shot from the deep slot after Tippettt dug a puck off the half wall and DeAngelo went D-to-D to Zamula. The assists went to Cates and Zamula at 4:43.
Tippett took the puck to the net and drew a slashing penalty on Forsling at 6:22. The Flyers generated good puck movement and a late tip-in scoring chance for van Riemsdyk from the doorstep on a Frost set-up.
At the midway point of the first period, Hart made a point blank save on Brandon Montour. A couple shifts later, the Flyers' goalie made an excellent 2-on-1 stop on Ryan Lomberg.
DeAngelo was called for slashing Givani Smith at the net at 13:35. Hart made a point blank save on Sam Reinhart and Cates promptly cleared it. Hart made another tough stop on Reinhart.
At 18:47, York put a shot on net through a layered screen. Lyon made the save.
2) Florida is characteristically a team that throws a lot of rubber at the net, and the first period of this game was no exception. Shots on goal were 19-10 Panthers. Shot attempts were a whopping 32-14 Florida. Scoring chances were 16-9 Florida but high-danger chances were fairly equal at 6-5 Panthers. Faceoffs were 10-10.
3) Hart erased a Provorov giveaway at 1:12 of the second period to keep the game tied at 1-1. At 1:45, Lyon swallowed up a DeAngelo blas from the point off a clean faceoff win by Hayes. Shots on goal were 2-2 through 4:03.
At 5:42, Hart concluded an extended Florida pressure sequence with a stop against Tkachuk in close.
The Flyers took a 2-1 lead at 8:42, The Frost line generated a strong forecheck and eventually scored (after Frost took a high stick to the face and went to the bench and Hayes just stepped on the ice). Lemieux won a puck battle and found Sanheim pinching in on the other side. Receiving the pass, Sanheim fired a shot past Lyon. Lemieux got the lone assist.
An Allison breakaway was stopped by Lyon at 9:37. Second period shots at this point were 5-4 Florida. At 10:10, Hayes tucked an Allison rebound wide of the left post.
Florida had a 2-on-1 opportunity at 12;52, The Flyers recovered as the pass went awry and Hart made the save.
The Panthers re-tied the game at 16:17 at the end of an extended possession shift. Lemieux lost weak side coverage as Montour snuck in from the point. Barkonv made a good pass and Montour scored a backdoor goal from the right circle. The secondary assist went to Reinhart.
At 16:20 JVR took the puck away at the defensive blueline and counterattacked. Lyon made a shoulder save. Philly retook the lead at 16:54 with a goal off the rush. Zamula started the play behind the Flyers net and then DeAngelo found Laughton with a stretch pass. Laughton put a forehand to backhanded move on Lyon and finished it off. The4 assists went to DeAngelo and Zamula.
The Flyers made it 4-2 at 18:05. Farabee made the initial play and then Cates split the gap over the middle. From behind the net, Cates put the puck in front. Untouched as he came in, Sanheim poked at the puck and tallied his second goal of the game; this time from point blank range. The helpers went to Cates and Farabee.
The Philly lead grew to 5-2 at 18:55. Frost made a cross-seam pass that Foerster tipped to Provorov. The Flyers defenseman went in and scored on the backhand. The helpers were credited to Foerster and Frost.
4) Not just on the scoreboard but overall in the second period -- minus the shift that resulted in Montour's goal -- the Flyers had much more puck possession in the second period. Shots on goal were 11-9 Flyers. Shot attempts were 21-18 Flyers. Scoring chances were 13-11 Flyers. High-danger chances were 8-2 Flyers. Faceoffs were 15-6 Flyers (25-16 Flyers through two periods).
5) Hat made a tricky deflection save at 1:10 of the third period to keep the score at 5-2 in the Flyers' favor. That was followed by glove saves at 3:34 and 3:39.
At 5:34, Hart was tested again (shots were now 7-1 Florida). He denied Eric Staal from the doorstep.
JVR and Allison had a 2-on-1 on a delayed slashing penalty on Ekblad. The touchup came at 8:29 after Allison was unable to convert the odd-man rush for a goal. The Flyers didn't generate much on the ensuing power play.
Lemieux delivered a pair of hits on Aleksander Barkov. At 10:58, he dropped the gloves with ex-Flyer Radko Gudas. Lemieux got an instigator penalty and 10-minute misconduct. The Flyers went down on 1:08 five-on-three kill as Seeler was called for tripping Verhaeghe behind the Philly net.
On the two-man disadvantage, Hart made saves on Verhaeghe, Montour and Barkov. The Panthers pulled Lyon for a 6-on-3. The first first penalty expired. Florida took an intentional offside with 42 seconds left on the Seeler penalty. The call was changed to a regular offside and the faceoff moved just outside the Flyers zone. Florida pulled Lyon again.
With one second left on the Seeler penalty, Reinhart roofed a shot from the slot. The assists went to Barkov and Montour at 13:49.
At 15:47, Hart made a phenomenal save on Verhaeghe from the left slot to keep the Flyers' lead at two goals. It was his 40th save of the game.
The Panthers pulled Lyon again. Overpassing between Faebee and Tippett caused a potential empty netter to go awry. The Fyler siced the pick with 2:21 left. Finally, Foerster blocked a shot and forwarded the puck to Frost who soloed up ice for an empty-net tap in goal at 17:01.
Third period shots on goal were 16-3 Florida. Shot attempts were 32-5 Florida. Scoring chances were 16-4 Florida with a 9-3 high-danger edge to Florida. Final faceoffs were 29-28 Flyers.