The second half of this week brought the Panthers back to home ice, with Philadelphia and Calgary coming into town. The last time Florida played the Flyers was right after the All-Star Break, a game that wasn’t their best effort, which ended in a 2-1 loss. On the other hand, the Cats haven’t played Calagry since December, with that meeting ending in a 3-1 loss for Florida. The Flames would be without Martin Pospisil, who got a three game suspension for his dangerous hit on Seattle Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn, who’s still currently out of their lineup with an upper-body injury. Florida’s on a six game win streak and looking to extend that eight by the end of the week. With the Trade Deadline looming in the middle of the matches, the Panthers made a couple of big moves to strengthen their immediate lineup, adding Vladimir Tarasenko from the Senators and Kyle Okposo from Buffalo. They also signed Gustav Forsling to an eight-year contract and extended Gadjovich with a two-year deal.
Philadelphia Flyers:
The news came out Wednesday that Florida was getting Vladimir Tarasenko in exchange for a couple of draft picks. Some fans weren’t happy with the addition because the team chemistry has been so strong since late December, and things are clicking; no need to mess with what’s working. However, Tarasenko made his Florida debut against the Flyers, being slotted in on the top line with Barkov and Reinhart. This moved Verhaeghe back to the second line with Bennett and Tkachuk, and Cousins moved down to the fourth line with Stenlund and Lomberg, Gadjovich was a healthy scratch. Bobrovsky was in the net and on an 11-game streak of allowing two goals or less; Errson was between the pipes for Philly. The Barkov line started for the forwards, with Forsling-Ekblad as the defensive pair. Florida got to the offensive zone first, with Forsling getting a shot early that got saved. The Flyers responded by making an offensive push before things settled into a grinding match. The first half of the period was filled with a lot of skating back and forth but not significant zone time for either side, and thus, there was not a lot of shooting. Florida finally got a couple of chances, one from Lundell, whose shot got kick saved, and then a Barkov steal led to his shot getting a good rebound off the save that Tarasenko tried to put to the back of the net, but it got saved. Bob made a stick save before shoving between Lomberg and Deslauriers happened. Tkachuk took his first shot of the night but got saved, and a one-on-one chance for Philly got saved by Bob with 8:55 to go. Barkov got his second good chance off a breakaway, but Errson made the stick save. A flurry of Panthers offensive chances followed, getting shots from Tkachuk, Montour twice, Mikkola, Verhaeghe, and Bennett. None got past Errson or the Flyers’ defense, which was doing a good job clogging up the slot area in front of the net. Mikkola made a big hit before Tkachuk and Montour got shots off toward the goal that got saved. Reinhart got a breakaway but no goal to show for it. Tarasenko took a hit so he could get the puck to Barkov, who sent it to Reinhart. However, the puck was rolling, and he had no opportunity to get a good shot. Tkachuk and Mikkola got the last Florida chances before the period ended, but the teams would leave the first period scoreless, 0-0.
A poor start to the 2nd period for the Panthers led to the Flyers scoring just 9 seconds into the period. Poehling roofed the puck just over Bobrovsky to take the 1-0 lead. Bob then made a cover save with a Flyers player getting too close to him, which set off Tkachuk and the rest of the team, who went after him, but no penalties were called. Tarasenko and Kulikov both got shots toward the net, but they were blocked. The Philly defense was boxing Florida out of quality shots, especially in the slot. The first penalty of the game came at 16:36; Cousins got sent to the box for tripping. Florida cleared the zone, and then a Barkov steal led to a breakaway chance, but he got tripped. The officials didn’t call the trip, which led to the fans loudly booing them. Reinhart walked the puck into the Flyers’ zone and killed more time there. Luostrainen blocked a shot before Mikkola cleared and killed the penalty. Ekblad took a shot, but it went high, and Forsling’s wrister shot got stick saved. But Forsling’s next shot through traffic finally got past Errson to tie the game 1-1 7 minutes into the period. Mikkola and Konecny started to go at it before officials broke it up. Verhaeghe got a couple of shots off before Staal tripped him with 11:58 to go in the period.
Reinhart’s shot got saved, a dangerous chance from Barkov got stopped, and the Tkachuk & Montour both had penalties committed against them that the refs didn’t call. Tkachuk got tripped, and Montour got slashed. Bennett got a couple of chances before the power play ended. Forsling made a great hit that forced a turnover before a Flyers hand pass wasn’t called in the neutral zone. Tkachuk and Hathaway got into it, and both of them went to the box, slashing the call on Tkachuk and roughing for Hathaway—4v4 with 6:43 left in the period. The offense mostly came from the Panthers, with Lundell and Barkov taking shots toward the net but no goal to show for it. Bob made one big save as the 4v4 ended with 4:40 left to play. The Flyers put the pressure on after the penalty ended before the Cats made an offensive push with shots from Stenlund and Lomberg. A hit that sent Verhaeghe to the ice led Bennett to have words with the Philly players before the period ended. The game was still tied after 40 minutes of play, 1-1.
The Panthers have been a great 3rd period team this season, and the start of this one was no exception. Reinhart blocked a slapshot and was slow to get up, but he skated off under his own power. Montour, Mikkola, and Barkov all took shots that went wide, while Florida held most of the offensive zone time in the opening 5 minutes. Ekblad, Montour, and Verhaeghe were the next ones to get scoring chances, but the Fliers’ defense was doing the work to make it tough for the Cats to get multiple scoring chances. Bob then made a big save with 13:17 left to play. Forsling’s next shot went wide, Verhaeghe’s got glove saved, and Stenlund’s got saved. Things were back to a grinding back and forth at the mid-point in the period. Tarasenko forced a turnover that led to an Ekman-Larsson shot that got saved. Bennett & Montour’s chances got blocked by the swarming Philly defense. Bob made a save on Tippet with 6:07 left on the clock. A big hit on Reinhart drew an angry reaction from fans and the Panthers. The Flyers made an offensive push with under 5 minutes to play, Bob coming up with great saves with 4:30 & 3:57 to go. He made more saves before a Philly player hit Bob, leading to chaos in front of the net and fighting. There was debris strewn about the ice in front of the Cats’ goal, sticks, and even a helmet, but the officials didn’t blow a whistle or clear the debris. Fans booed the referees for the second time because of the lack of calls and because they did not stop playing with so many items on the ice that players could trip over. Things looked like they were headed to overtime until Hathaway scored with 21.3 seconds on the clock. Bob got a piece of the shot but not enough to stop it. Florida took its timeout and decided to pull Bobrovsky for the final seconds. The Cats couldn’t covert a tying goal and so fell to the Flyers again in a 2-1 loss.
Calgary Flames:
Stolarz got the start on Saturday against the Flames; Markstrom was in the crease for Calgary. Tarasenko’s line started the offense with Forsling-Ekblad on defense. Stolarz was going for a career-high in wins and consecutive wins. The Panthers were looking to bounce back from their loss on Thursday and to avenge their loss to Calgary in December. The Cats haven’t lost in regulation in back-to-back games since December, and the forwards would need to utilize speed in the neutral zone to create clean breakouts against the Flames’ defense. Calgary got the first offensive chances in the opening 3 minutes, but Stolarz was there to make the saves at 18:23 and then at 16:43 on the clock. The Cats pushed back, gaining time in the O-zone and getting shots from Montour, Bennett, and Ekblad, but the shots got blocked or saved. Stolarz then made a couple of saves, including a big save off a rebound chance for the Flames, 14:03 to go. Tkachuk got a shot off that got blocked before things settled in to be another grinding stake for the team with lots of back and forth. Verhaeghe’s shot got pad saved, and then Reinhart and Stolarz came up big with a great defensive play and save, respectively. Kulikov took a hit from Backlund, who got called for roughing and sent Florida to the first power play of the game. Barkov’s shot hit the post, Tkachuk’s got glove saved & his second shot got blocked, Calgary killed the penalty. Tensions got hot quickly as Lomberg got into a fight with a Flames player, but no penalties were called. Tkachuk’s next shot went wide, and then Tarasenko made a big hit to force a turnover. Unfortunately, Tarasenko and Ekblad then collided at center ice, with Ekblad going to the locker room; He would not return to the game. Lundell and Luostrainern both got scoring chances, but their shots were saved. Kulikov was called for interference with 2:32 to go. Florida won an extended board battle to get the puck to Luostrainen, who cleared the zone. Stolarz made great saves with 1:32 & 1:22 on the clock. Mikkole cleared the zone, and then Montour took a shot from the neutral zone, which was saved. The PK did their job and killed the penalty. Mikkola took a slash to the hands that wasn’t called before Forsling’s backhand shot got saved as the period ended. There was no score after the first period, and Calgary held the advantage in SOG, blocked shots, and hits, while Florida had the advantage in faceoffs.
With Ekblad out, OEL moved up to the top pairing with Forsling. Things didn’t stay scoreless for long as Tarasenko notched his first goal as a Panther off a turnover just 23 seconds into the period. He anticipated the risky pass from the Flames and made a move to intercept, which allowed him to shoot to score a 1-0 lead for Florida with 19:37 left to play. Verhaeghe made a big hit and then followed it up with a SOG that got saved. Calgary would get a shot to Stolarz, who made the save. More forechecking pressure from the Cats led to more shot chances from Tarasenko, Barkov, and Bennett, but no goals. The Flames got o-zone time shots toward Stolarz, which he saved. Kulikov got sent to the box for hooking with 14:16 left in the period. The PK would be stressed without Ekblad or Kulikov, and it showed. Sharangovich used a rebound chance to tie the game 1-1 5 and a half minutes into the period. Florida didn’t like that and forced a turnover that led to a response goal from Barkov just 28 seconds later. Tarasenko got the secondary assist, while Reinhart got the primary. After a scoreless 1st period, three goals got scored in just under 6 minutes in the 2nd period. The Panthers held the O-zone and got shots from Bennett, Rodrigues, and Barkov. Stolarz used his big frame to make a massive save with 9:35 left to play and then a cover save just 30 seconds later, leading to “Stol-lie” appreciation chants from the crowd. The Cats weren’t done with the offensive pressure either, Reinhart, Forsling, Lundell, and Montour all got shots off toward the net but didn’t convert. Forsling took another shot that Bennett tipped in. The initial ruling was no goal, but then the call got overturned for a good goal before the officials decided to review the play to see if Bennett touched it with a high stick. After review, the call stands: a good goal for Bennett and a 3-1 lead with 6:48 to go in the period and Bennett’s 15th goal of the season. Tempers got hot between Verhaeghe and Huberdeau, and chirping and shoving went on behind the Calgary net. They both got sent to the box for cross-checking and 4v4 play with just over 6 minutes left in the period. Stolarz made the first save of the 4v4 before Florida took control. Reinhart had his shot blocked and OEL had his saved. Tarasenko came up big again for the Cats, scoring with 5:05 to play and giving them a 4-1 lead. That gives Tarasenko a 3-point night with two goals and one assist. His shot went in on Markstrom’s short glove side. Forsling is now +47 on the year and leads the NHL in +/- with no one else even close to him. Stolarz made back-to-back saves with 3:14 on the clock. He made another great save with 2:29 to go. The next set of shots came from Stenlund twice, Montour and Lomberg, but the shots were saved or went wide. Florida’s had 19 SOG in just the 2nd period. Rodrigues blocked a shot a point-blank range and went down to the ice. He didn’t get up as medical staff came out to look at him. He was eventually helped off the ice by the medical staff and Lomberg before going down the hall to the locker room not bearing weight on his leg; Rodrigues didn’t return to the game. Stolarz made two great saves in the final seconds of the period before the buzzer sounded. The Cats left the 2nd period with a 4-1 lead but were down a defenseman and a forward going into the 3rd.
Through 2 periods of play, Stolarz has seen 13 high-danger shots and stopped 12 of them. The Panthers opened the period, getting pressure from the top line of forwards, and Forsling & Montour both had shots go wide. With 16:08 on the clock, Montour got sent to the box for hooking. Sloppy puck management would come back to bite the Flame as Luostrainen and Stenlund broke out of the zone. Stenlund scored a shorty for the 5-1 lead and 15:30 to go. Stenlund settled a bouncing puck and took a shot that went just above the glove hand of Markstrom. The short-handed chances weren’t done either, as Reinhart took a shot that went wide and got pushed by Miromanov from behind. The 10th goal of the year marks a career-high for Stenlund, and the Panthers killed off the rest of the penalty. Calgary got o-zone pressure with 12 minutes to play, but Stolarz came up with a big save to hold them to 1 goal. Stolarz was lying on top of the puck when Huberdeau kept poking at the puck after the whistle had blown. Verhaeghe and Tkachuk took exception to the behavior and went after him. Lomberg got into a fight with Hunt, but it was Lundell who got called for cross-checking with just under 11 minutes to play. Stolarz made a pad save, and Lomberg and Cousins got a two-on-one chance, but the Flames broke up the play. Penalty killed for the Cats. Special teams didn’t get much of a break as Coleman and Stenlund went at each other, and both took penalties, roughing and cross-checking, respectively. Stolarz made a kick save before Tarasenko cleared the zone. The next time Florida got possession they were content to hold onto the puck and just kill time before the penalties ended. The last 4 minutes were a back-and-forth, Stolarz made a good save with 3:26 left. Mikkola to Tarasenko to Barkov to score with 2:54 on the clock. However, Calgary challenged for offsides, and the call was confirmed by the officials; no goal, and still a 5-1 lead for the Cats. Time ran out, and the Panthers won 5-1 against Calgary. After the first period, Florida didn’t give up many high-quality chances to the Flames, but Stolarz did see a lot in that opening 20 minutes. With the win over Calgary, the Panthers stayed no. 1 in the NHL, and Stolarz got a career-high 5th straight win and 13 wins in the season. Tarasenko was awarded the 1st star of the game earning big cheers from the crowd. Florida heads back on the road this week to play Dallas and Carolina before seeing Tampa Bay at home.
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