Flyers lose tough back and forth battle against Panthers

The Flyers returned to action Thursday night after having four days off and they'd have their hands full going up against the reigning Stanley Cup champions. The Flyers' five-game point streak would end after a tough back-and-forth battle.

Evan Rodrigues gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at the 2:36 mark of the first period as he stripped Tyson Foerster of the puck and put it through the legs of Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov. Lundell and Luostarinen picked up assists.

Niko Mikkola's wrist shot beat Fedotov stick side to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead at the 6:57 mark of the first period. Matthew Tkachuk set him up with a pass to the middle from behind the net. Tkachuk and Boqvist tallied assists.

Aaron Ekblad got called for tripping at the 9:16 mark of the first period which gave the Flyers their first power play of the game. The Panthers were aggressive on the penalty kill which didn't allow the Flyers to set up at all.

The Panthers got their first power play of the game at the 1:32 mark of the second period as Joel Farabee got called for tripping. They got a few good shots on net but couldn't capitalize on the opportunity.

Aleksander Barkov gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead at the 3:00 mark of the second period as his backhanded shot beat Kolosov's glove side. Great passing from Sam Reinhart and Tkachuk set him up. Reinhart and Tkachuk collected assists.

Sam Bennett gave the Flyers their second power play of the game at the 5:30 mark of the second period as he got called for hooking.

The Flyers got on the board on the power play at the 7:13 mark of the second period. Matvei Michkov's shot went off the skate of Farabee and onto Tyson Foerster's stick. He then deposited the puck into a wide-open net past Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight. This made the score 3-1 Panthers. Farabee and Michkov tallied the assists.

Nick Seeler got the Flyers within one as he collected a turnover and put a wrist shot under the right arm of Knight at the 9:31 mark of the second period. No one received assists.

Scott Laughton gave the Panthers their second power play of the game at the 12:47 mark of the second period as he got called for interference. The Panthers couldn't capitalize but got a few good shots on net.

Carter Verhaeghe scored his second power-play goal of the game at the 13:35 mark of the second period. Kolosov made the initial save on Tkachuk but he allowed a big rebound right to the stick of Verhaeghe. He lifted it under his left arm. This made the score 4-2 Panthers. Tkachuk and Barkov collected assists.

Owen Tippett got the Flyers within one at the 17:41 mark of the second period as Michkov knocked down a puck and passed it to him. He then sent a snap shot past the right shoulder of Knight. Michkov received the only assist.

Tippett tied the game up at four at the 18:04 make of the second period as he retrieved the puck off the skate of Nate Schmidt and put a backhanded shot past the blocker of Knight. He scored two goals in 23 seconds. Michkov tallied the lonely assist.

Ekblad gave the Flyers their third power play of the game as he got called for tripping at the 1:12 mark of the third period. The Flyers struggled to get set up in the offensive zone and get any shots on net.

Garnet Hathaway gave the Flyers their first lead of the game at the 5:39 mark of the third period as he found a loose puck sitting in the blue paint and put it in the net. This made the score 5-4 Flyers. Laughton and Ristolainen collected assists.

The Flyers got their fourth power play of the game at the 13:37 mark of the third period as Jesper Boqvist got called for holding the stick. They couldn't capitalize on the opportunity but got a few good shots on net.

The game would go to four on four at the 14:27 mark of the third period as Bobby Brink got called for interference, Travis Konecny got called roughing and Dmitry Kulikov got called for roughing.

Gus Forsling tied the game up at five for the Panthers at the 14:43 mark of the third period as his snap shot beat Kolosov's glove side. There was traffic in front of the net, which blocked his vision. Bennett and Rodrigues received assists.

Farabee gave the Panthers their fourth power play of the game at the 17:32 mark of the third period as he got called for roughing and cross-checking while Forsling was only called for roughing.

Sam Reinhart gave the Panthers a 6-5 lead on the power play at the 18:01 mark of the third period as he had a wide-open net to shoot at after the puck deflected off multiple players in front. Verhaeghe and Tkachuk picked up assists.

Emil Andrae got called for tripping at the 18:36 mark of the third period. He had to take this penalty to avoid an empty netter from being scored. The Flyers had Kolosov pulled to go six on five.

Tkachuk put the game away as he scored an empty netter at the 19:49 mark of the third period to give the Panthers a 7-5 lead. Reinhart and Kulikov tallied assists.

The Flyers had trouble both on the Power Play and penalty kill. They went one for four on the power play and one for five on the penalty kill.

Fedotov saved 5 of 7 shots in the first period but was replaced by Kolosov for the rest of the game. This gave him a .714 save percentage. Kolosov saved 16 of 20 shots, giving him a .800 save percentage.

Goal Summary

1st Period:

Rodrigues (7) Assists: none

Mikkola (2) Assists: Tkachuk (17), Boqvist (5)

2nd Period:

Barkov (7) (Power Play) Assists: Reinhart (17), Tkachuk (18)

Foerster (6) (Power Play) Assists: Farabee (6), Michkov (11)

Seeler (2) Assists: none

Verhaeghe (8) (Power Play) Assists: Tkachuk (19), Barkov (20)

Tippett (6) Assists: Michkov (12)

Tippett (7) Assists: Michkov (13)

3rd Period:

Hathaway (3) Assists: Laughton (7), Ristolainen (7)

Forsling (4) Assists: Bennett (12), Rodrigues (8)

Reinhart (19) (Power Play) Assists: Verhaeghe (14), Tkachuk (20)

Tkachuk (8) (Empty Net) Assists: Reinhart (18), Kulikov (4)

Flyers Next Game

Flyers next game is Saturday, Dec. 7, in Philadelphia against the Boston Bruins.