The Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers didn’t hold much back in their first two meetings of the 2024-25 season. Each was a back-and-forth affair not decided until the final moments, and excluding an empty-netter in their second contest, both were one-goal games.
Their third and final regular season meeting looked like it may be more one-sided, with the favored Panthers jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. But the Flyers, coming off one of their best performances of the season in a beatdown of the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night, didn’t let the first period define them. They controlled play in the second period to get back in the game, then exploded for three goals in the third period, with Noah Cates notching his first two-goal game since April 24, 2022, giving the Flyers the lead for good with 5:51 to play.
Game Recap
When Aleksander Barkov took a high-sticking penalty early in the first period, it seemed like it could be the perfect catalyst for the Flyers to start strong. After all, they scored two power-play goals on Saturday and wouldn’t have to contend with a former Selke Trophy winner for their two-minute 5-on-4.
But that still left another dangerous penalty-killing forward ready to pounce for the Panthers. And sure enough, Sam Reinhart beat Travis Konecny clean into the slot and shelved the puck while being illegally dragged down. Reinhart, who scored a career-high 57 goals last year, tallied his 26th of this season with a spectacular solo effort, which doubled as his league-leading fifth shorthanded goal.
If that wasn’t deflating enough, the Panthers needed 95 seconds to double their lead. This time, it was Sam Ersson wearing the goat horns, as a routine shot from defenseman Uvis Balinskis (who entered tonight with two goals in 66 NHL games) somehow slipped through his five-hole. One game after pitching a 22-save shutout, albeit it against just 1.27 expected goals (the second-fewest allowed by the Flyers in a game this season), Ersson allowed goals on the second and third shots he faced, putting the Flyers in an uncomfortable position.
Though the Flyers played a solid first period by the numbers (outshot 8-7 and won the 5-on-5 expected goals battle 0.34-0.15), Florida’s speed and tenacity on the forecheck seemed to overwhelm them in their zone. That started to change in the second period as the Flyers began generating more quality chances, producing more scoring and high-danger chances in the first eight minutes of the second period than they did through the first. And the Flyers did get on the board during that time as Garnet Hathaway tallied for the second straight game when a centering pass for a streaking Ryan Poehling bounced in off a Panther.
Philadelphia didn’t rest on its laurels in that period, outshooting Florida 14-6 in the second stanza and again handily winning the expected goals battle. However, Barkov went to the box in the first minute of the third period, and this time the Flyers were the ones to score while he took a seat. After Morgan Frost nearly snuck a rebound past Sergei Bobrovsky, Cates did, burying his eighth goal and first since a five-game goal streak from Dec. 18 to Dec. 28, 2024.
However, the Flyers would have a Selke winner of their own take a costly penalty. With Sean Couturier in the box for hooking Balinskis, Reinhart continued his special teams domination with a turnaround shot that snuck past Ersson to restore Florida’s lead after just 93 seconds. The power-play bonanza wasn’t done, though, as the Flyers received another power play 39 seconds after the Reinhart goal. This time, Frost wouldn’t miss from point-blank range, poking the puck in off a crafty setup by Jamie Drysdale to once again tie the score.
Both teams had some chances as the period progressed, although the score remained tied at three deep into the period. A chest stop by Ersson on a Gustav Forsling howitzer turned the game around, though, as the rebound kicked out through center into no man’s land near the red line. That’s where Cates pushed the puck, creating a breakaway almost out of thin air. The backhand top-shelf finish was nice, but it only happened because he could deftly glove the puck ahead at the Florida blue line all while keeping himself and Bobby Brink onside.
Of course, the Flyers had a third-period lead the last time the Panthers came to Philadelphia, a game that ended 7-5 in Florida’s favor. And it looked like the Panthers had another punch to throw when an ill-advised pass by Frost gifted them several A-plus chances on Ersson in the final four minutes. But Ersson made up for his first-period stinker by holding the fort, then stoned Carter Verhaeghe on a dangerous 6-on-5 shot from the slot moments later.
The win wraps up a four-game homestand for the Flyers, one that began with two disappointing losses against contending teams but was emphatically salvaged in the back half. They won’t have time to rest on their laurels as the team heads to Columbus for a game tomorrow against the Blue Jackets. The Panthers are also in a back-to-back situation as they finish a stretch of four of five games on the road with a trip up to Newark to face the New Jersey Devils.
