Flyers give up lead after making huge rally, fall to defending champs originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
After going four days without a game, the Flyers clearly had plenty of juice for a comeback Thursday night.
But they couldn’t finish it off in a 7-5 loss to the Panthers at the Wells Fargo Center.
Sam Reinhart buried Florida’s third power play goal of the night with just under two minutes left to win it for the Panthers. Florida tacked on a fourth power play marker with the Flyers’ net emptied.
The Flyers rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second period to grab a 5-4 lead in the third period.
Owen Tippett scored a pair of goals in 25 seconds to erase a 4-2 Florida lead and send the Flyers into second intermission tied at 4-4.
Garnet Hathaway gave the Flyers their first lead at 5-4 with a hard-working goal 5:39 minutes into the final frame. But Gustav Forsling knotted things back up for Florida with a 4-on-4 goal over nine minutes later.
The Flyers (12-11-3) had their five-game point streak snapped (4-0-1). After winning three games in four days, the Flyers had four days to rest and practice before welcoming the defending champions.
Playing against the team that sent him to the Flyers in the Claude Giroux trade, Tippett did damage with a remarkable mini burst supported by Matvei Michkov. His goals came in the final 2:19 minutes of the middle stanza.
Michkov had three assists on the night.
John Tortorella’s club is 0-1-1 against the Panthers (16-9-2) this season after taking two of three from them last season. The teams meet once more in January when Florida comes back to the Wells Fargo Center.
• Ivan Fedotov was pulled at first intermission after giving up a pair of goals in the opening 6:57 minutes of the game.
The 28-year-old had somewhat of a leaky first period. He yielded the two goals on seven shots.
Evan Rodrigues outworked the Flyers before beating Fedotov in close to hand the Flyers a 1-0 deficit. Under four and a half minutes later, Niko Mikkola scored on a perimeter shot.
Tortorella turned to Aleksei Kolosov to open the second period. The 22-year-old finished with 16 saves on 20 shots. Three of the Panthers’ four goals against him were on the power play.
Kolosov couldn’t see Forsling’s shot on the game-tying 5-5 goal.
After joining the Flyers for a pair of practices this week, Samuel Ersson missed a 10th straight game because of a lower-body injury. Tortorella said Wednesday that Ersson would be an option against Florida, but the Flyers apparently wanted to give their No. 1 goalie more time.
“I think they’re doing their job,” Ersson said Thursday. “I trust them, they trust me, I think we had a great dialogue throughout this whole process. I think we’re taking the right steps.”
The 25-year-old was on the ice at the team’s optional morning skate. He said there had been no setbacks over the previous four days.
“I’m feeling good,” Ersson said. “Just nice to get back into it, get some full practices under the belt. I think it’s good just kind of for the confidence and the body, as well. But it’s just fun to be back.”
The Flyers got after Florida netminder Spencer Knight, who stopped 29 of 34 shots.
• The Flyers’ power play went 1 for 4. It came in 4 for 44 (9.1 percent) since Oct. 27 after starting the season 8 for 31 (25.8 percent).
Assistant coach Rocky Thompson has continued to consult special advisors Patrick Sharp and John LeClair and pro scout Dany Heatley, a plan devised in the offseason.
Thompson pointed out that the Flyers haven’t had a lot of opportunities of late, a sign that their 5-on-5 game has been better. Over the previous three games, the Flyers had just four power plays.
“It has been a challenge for us,” Thompson said of the fewer opportunities, “but I think that plays to our advantage because our 5-on-5 game is good and positive.”
Michkov gave the Flyers much-needed life 4:13 minutes after the Panthers pinned them in a 3-0 hole with a power play marker. The 19-year-old ignited the Flyers’ power play goal from Tyson Foerster by finding Joel Farabee in front.
Nick Seeler then scored 2:18 minutes later and the Flyers were right back in it with half the game to go.
• Jamie Drysdale was out for an 11th straight game with an upper-body injury.
• The Flyers head to Boston for a matchup Saturday with the Bruins (1 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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