The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Florida Panthers to clinch a spot in the playoffs for the 17th time in the last 19 seasons.
Roberto Luongo was supposed to start for the Panthers but was a late scratch due to an upper body injury. The backup goalie, Dan Ellis, got the call and had a decent first period.
The Flyers couldn't get much going offensively until Drew Shore took a 4:00 high sticking call and then Scottie Upshall was called for a hooking minor. The Flyers had a 1:43 of 5-on-3 power play time but couldn't convert. They had opportunities but couldn't put the puck into the back of the net.
The Flyers finally got on the board in the second period. Adam Hall went in on the forecheck and forced the Florida defenseman to turn the puck over. Hall got a shot off and the rebound bounced to Vinny Lecavalier, who put the puck into the back of the net with traffic in front. It was Lecavalier's 20th goal of the season. The Flyers have seven players that have scored 20 or more goals this season, which leads the NHL. It was Lecavalier's fifth goal in his last seven games.
The Panthers had a prime scoring chance after Luke Schenn turned the puck over in his own zone. A shot got through from the point and Tomas Fleischmann was there to get the rebound but Steve Mason did the splits and pinned the puck along the post for the save.
Nicklas Grossmann made a nice pass out of his own zone to Claude Giroux, who skated into the Panthers zone, using Ed Jovanovski as a screen and blasted one past Ellis for his 26th goal on the season. The Flyers took a 2-0 lead.
At 8:50 of the second period, Scott Hartnell got the puck into the Panthers zone and Mark Streit went and got it along the boards. Streit made a nice pass to Giroux in the slot and Giroux fired it past Ellis for his 27th goal of the season, and gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead. The Orange and Black had three goals and only five shots on goal.
The final goal of the period come from Sean Couturier, who broke a 17-game scoreless streak. Matt. Read got the puck over to Couturier and he made a nice play along the boards to got the puck to the point. Braydon Coburn took the shot and it bounced right to Couturier, who scored his eleventh goal of the season.
The Flyers scored four goals on just 12 shots in the second period.
The Flyers came out slow to start the third period and the Panthers took advantage of it. The Flyers turned the puck over in their own zone, which led to offensive zone pressure and an eventual goal by Erik Gudbranson. Gudbranson took the shot from the point and the puck found its way past Mason with traffic in front.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored the second goal of the game for the Panthers after the puck went off of Streit's stick and past Mason. It was Huberdeau's first game back after missing 11 games due to a concussion.
The third period has not been a good period for the Flyers their last four games. They have been out scored 8-2 in the last four third periods played. They were fortunate the Panthers only scored two goals in the third period after their own sloppy play.
Tye McGinn scored the insurance goal for the Flyers late in the third period. Hall won the face-off and Lecavalier got the loose puck and made a nice pass over to McGinn. He tipped it past Ellis for the fifth and final goal of the night.
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