George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers had to know the Flyers were going to come out with their hair on fire in their home opener on Monday night yet that does not mean they were all that ready for it.
The Flyers jumped all over the Panthers, yet midway through the third, it looked like the two-time defending champions had all the momentum and were set to win their fourth straight to kick off a new season.
Chalk this one up to the end justifying the means.
The Flyers were the better team for much of the night on Monday and, thanks to a power-play goal from Sean Couturier off a slick pass from Trevor Zegras with less than 5 minutes left, head lead Philadelphia to a 5-2 win.
Although Philadelphia’s win was perhaps indicative of how the night went, the final score was not.
Florida, you see, pulled goalie Daniil Tarasov with 3 minutes left and the Flyers (1-1-1) scored two more into an empty net for their first win of the new season.
The Panthers (3-1-0) ended up losing for the first time in the new campaign.
“When we look back at the game, it won’t be a lot of defensive breakdowns,” Paul Maurice said afterward. “It was what we did with the puck, and why. We had a lot of standing with the puck, a slow puck game. Even the turnovers were broken plays where plays were not completed. We were standing still when we were moving the puck whether we were in the offensive or defensive zone.
“We were trying to make plays when there weren’t any from a standing position and that’s why we looked so slow.’’
Tarasov was sharp throughout the night, but Coutuier’s second goal of the night — the first power play goal the Panthers had allowed in their first four games — was too much to overcome.
That goal came with 4:10 remaining and, well, this one was just not meant to be.
The Panthers continue their five-game road trip Wednesday in Detroit.
“They came out fast, obviously, had a lot of jump to start the game and put some pressure on us,’’ said Sam Bennett, who scored on the power play to tie the game at 2 with 9:45 remaining. “I thought we played well in the third, had a good pushback, a lot of chances. They just capitalized. We couldn’t get it back.”
Florida trailed 1-0 on a goal from Tyson Foerster in the opening period, then were down 2-0 on Couturier’s first late in the second.
Sam Reinhart gave Florida a lift with his shorthanded goal late in the third, a goal which led to a strong start by the Panthers to open the third.
Instead of being down 2-0, Florida got rolling only down one.
“That was huge,’’ Bennett said. “Gave us a bunch of life going into the third there. It was a big-time goal and really motivated us.’’
The Panthers were all over the Flyers to start the period, with Bennett tying the score with the team’s sixth power-play goal of the season.
Florida has at least one power play goal in each of its first four games.
The Panthers kept going against Dan Vladar and the Flyers and it appeared that any minute they would take their first lead of the night.
But a slashing call on Bennett handed Philadelphia its fifth power play chance — and the fifth time was the charm.
Couturier scored on a really nice shot and that, for the most part, was that.
Tarasov made 17 saves in his first start for the Panthers.
His play was not enough this night.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Maurice said. “I thought we were coming, then we give up the breakaway goal [No. 1 to Couturier] on a puck we possess. We were slowing down with the puck, and that’s not going to work for anybody.”
ON DECK: GAME No. 5
FLORIDA PANTHERS at DETROIT RED WINGS
- When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
- Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
- National TV: TNT, truTV
- Streaming: HBO Max
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL/Panthers App
- Last Season: Detroit won 2-1
- This Season — At Detroit: Wednesday; March 6. At Florida: March 10; April 15.
- All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 40-21-7, 5 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday at New Jersey Devils, 7