The Florida Panthers surrendered two goals in the final minute to drop a frustrating 4-2 decision to the Philadelphia Flyers at Amerant Bank Arena on Thanksgiving Eve.
Florida got off to a fast start, opening the scoring at the 5:21 mark.
After Nick Seeler broke his stick at the other end, A.J. Greer passed to Sam Bennett, who head-manned to Carter Verhaeghe. Verhaeghe returned to Bennett and he drove to the net, slipping a pass underneath Seeler as he being knocked down. Brad Marchand, who had come from the bench to replace Greer, was the hungry recipient and he went high on Dan Vladar from the door step for his 14th goal.
Los Gatos would continue to pepper Vladar throughout the first, but the Flyers keeper was up to the task, finishing the frame strong with 14 saves.
Verhaeghe and Bennett would get their second points of the night 5:16 into the second to help put the Cats up by two. Following a big Sergei Bobrovsky save on former Panther Owen Tippett, Verhaeghe sent Greer away down the left side. Greer entered the Philadelphia zone, pulled up and backhanded the puck over to Aaron Ekblad on the right side. Ekblad passed down low to Bennett and he sent a beautiful cross to Verhaeghe, who fired home from a difficult angle with a helpless Vladar stranded on the wrong post.
The game would take a turn 2:41 later when Emil Andrae would beat a stickless Bobrovsky for his first of the season. Bobrovsky lost his twig after making a stellar save on Jamie Drysdale. Andrae retrieved the rebound and passed to Tippet, who returned to Drysdale. Drysdale teed up Andrae and he sent a wrister through traffic to turn on the red light.
Andrae would have a hand in the game-tying goal at 11:13 as he sent a rising shot towards the net after taking a pass from Drysdale that was deflected down and in by the crafty Matvei Michkov.
A low event third period had folks thinking overtime, but Tyson Foerster put on the hero cape and sniped Bobrvosky glove-side through a crowd from just above the right circle after his initial one-timer was blocked by Ekblad, who could not get back up to defend. The assists on the game-winner, which came at 19:14, went to Travis Sanheim and Cam York.
The Panthers couldn’t get Bobrovsky to the bench and Sean Couturier ended it 21 seconds later by tipping Christian Dvorak’s shot past Bobrovsky after Marchand failed to clear the zone.
A tough result as the Cats were 46 seconds away from earning at least a point and then ended up getting stuffed for Thanksgiving. The Panthers held the Flyers to a mere 18 shots, but the visitors did a good job of getting traffic in front on their first three goals. Hats off to Vladar, who was very sharp during the first period when the Cats were rolling. Florida’s inability to add a third goal ended up costing them, a bug of a season that continues to move in fits and starts. Next up on homestand menu is a Black Friday matinée against the Calgary Flames.
The Five Hole
After having his personal 11-game point streak snapped by the New Jersey Devils, Brad Marchand’s goal gave him points in three-straight. Marchand retook the sole team lead in goals from Sam Reinhart and he is in nine-way tie for third in the league behind Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl.
Speaking of Reinhart, he saw his torrid seven-game scoring streak come to end. Despite the goose egg, Reinhart has eight goals and 15 points in 12 November games.
Carter Verhaeghe scored goals in consecutive games for the first time this season. His second period marker was 142nd as a Cat, tying him with Nathan Horton for 8th place in franchise history. Verhaeghe matched Owen Tippett with a game-high four shots.
After a slow start offensively, Sam Bennett has put up two goals and six points in the last five games. In addition to his two helpers, Bennett finished the game with the three shots and three hits.
Gustav Forsling logged 21:40 of ice while playing in 500th NHL game. Congrats on the milestone!
Stat Card
