Flyers Lose Scott Laughton As They Fall To Panthers, 6-3
The Flyers knew they were facing a tall order when facing the explosive Florida Panthers and would need to play at their best to have a chance. The first period was far from their “best”.
The first goal on the night came off a missed connection by Kevin Hayes to Patrick Brown. The Panthers immediately created a 3-on-2 that sent Carter Verhaege into the zone uncontested where the Panthers’ forward made a nifty spinning shot that beat Hart under the cross bar.
The Flyers would buckle again this time while short handed at the hands of Flyer’ killer Sam Reinhart, who scored his twentieth goal. Panthers’ defensemen Aaron Ekblad was left unpressured at the point where he flipped the puck wide of the goal. Reinhart was able to reach his stick out and deflect the goal past Hart who had no chance.
The Panthers and Reinhart would strike again on their next powerplay. This time Justin Braun chose to cover, no one, instead of Reinhart who was left alone on the doorstep where he was able to bat the puck past Hart for a three nothing lead
To keep symmetry Carter Verhaege scored again for his second of the game. Both Cam York and Keith Yandle backed off the speedy winger, allowing him into the slot where he ripped a high short side laser past Hart. Hart might feel he could have stopped the shot, but the Flyers’ defensemen decision making was hard to understand and provided little help for the keeper. The period would end with the Flyers trailing by four.
The Flyers had a scary moment in the second period when Scott Laughton was absolutley destroyed by recently added Panther defensemen Petteri Lindbohm. It was a clean check even though it was so violent it sent Laughton about six feet sideways and into the boards. Laughton looked to be knocked out and was carried to the locker room after a few tense moments on the ice.
It is too early to speculate, but it would be shocking if Laughton was not concussed. Laughton would leave with what was later called a “head injury” and would not return
Laughton’s injury seemed to spark the Flyers with Travis Konecy dropping the gloves to take on the much bigger Lindbohm. Hayes would successfully cause a turnover on the forecheck and find JVR for a one timer past Bobrovsky. They had some life and a salty disposition.
Clawing their way back motivated by Laughton’s injury, the Flyers would strike again with Cam Atkinson swatting a Brassard rebound out of the air past Bobrovsky. The play was set up by Giroux stripping Radko Gudas of the puck at the blue line.
In a surprising show of emotion and effort, JVR dropped the gloves in a tussle with Maxim Mamin. This was not Ali v Fraizer, but there were some hands thown with bad intentions and the fight ended with headlocks and a draw.
Claude Giroux would draw a hooking penalty, giving the Flyers a powerplay. Travis Konecny would score their third goal of the evening, delfecting a Cam York point shot. The Flyers would score three goals in the period and trail by a single goal at the second period’s conclusion.
They played the Panthers to a draw to start the third period until their penalty kill was victimized again, this time by Panthers’ forward Anthony Duclair. Duclair banked the puck off of Patrick Brown and past Hart. Yet another goal that the Flyers’ netminder had no chance to save.
The team still showed some grit and fight, starting to take the body, but the game was already out of reach. The Pathers down shifted their offense a bit, sitting back and waiting for the rush. The Flyers got nothing going. Sam Reinhart would seal the deal with an empty net goal for the hat trick, giving Florida a 6-3 lead.
The difference between the teams in style and the talent level was apparent. The Panthers looked like cup contenders and the Flyers looked to be a step too slow and just not skilled enough to trade chances. If the Flyers do trade Giroux, South Florida woudl give him a strong chance to contend for a cup.