Panthers Top Flyers 3-2 In Shootout
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jonathon Huberdeau and Peter Mueller both scored goals in a shootout to lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
Florida's Stephen Weiss tied the game at 2 midway through the third period with his first goal of the season. Jack Skille also scored for the Panthers.
Matt Read and Jakub Voracek both scored goals for the Flyers. Read continued to have his way with the Panthers. Read notched his first career hat trick last month against the Panthers and his second-period goal against Jose Theodore was his sixth goal against them in six career games. He has 28 career goals.
Read was stopped by Theodore in the shootout. Claude Giroux also came up short in the second round.
On a team with scorers such as Giroux and Danny Briere, Read's an unlikely candidate to put together a string of goals against one team. But he's found something that works against Florida.
This time, Read was situation in the right place, waiting near the crease to pop in the puck for a 2-1 lead. Theodore smushed the puck against the ice with his glove, but Mike Knuble poked, poked, and poked again until it broke free. Read took advantage of Knuble's second and third efforts for the goal.
Theodore was stout from there and stopped 30 shots.
The Flyers and Panthers each scored a goal in the first.
Skille scored his first of the season on a simple wrister from the slot that got past Ilya Bryzgalov. The Panthers had scored only 22 goals this season and Skille had yet to record a point in seven games.
After Florida was whistled for interference, the Flyers capitalized with a man advantage. Voracek fired from the right circle, and teammate Tye McGinn threw a nice screen in front of Theodore to allow the tying goal.
Weiss, a big name in trade rumors these days, is the longest-tenured Panther and career leader in games played and assists. He added a clutch goal to his resume when he evened it up against Bryzgalov, who had been sensational until then, including a flurry of stops in one stretch late in the second.
The Flyers played again without forward Wayne Simmonds, who sustained head and neck injuries on a hit from Washington's John Erskine last Friday.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said it was a possibility Simmonds could play Saturday against Carolina.
Notes: The Flyers signed D Kimmo Timonen on a one-year contract extension through the 2013-14 season. Timonen is in his sixth season with the Flyers and 14th in the NHL. "He's a good solider and he's been a good Flyer," Holmgren said. ... Flyers F Scott Hartnell is on the mend from a broken left foot. He had the cast removed Thursday and could start skating next week, Holmgren said. Flyers D Andrej Meszaros (shoulder) also could skate this weekend. Both are expected out for at least another two weeks.
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