Rookie Matt Read scored a shorthanded goal on a third period penalty shot, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Flyers Vs. Panthers: Matt Read’s Shorthanded Penalty Shot Goal Proves To Be Game Winner
Rookie Matt Read scored on a shorthanded penalty shot in the third period, and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 31 of 33 Florida shots in a 3-2 Flyers victory.
The goal finished off a frantic sequence in which Philadelphia, nursing a 2-1 lead at the time, had just killed off the first half of a Florida two-man advantage. Read was hooked down by defenseman Jason Garrison while on a shorthanded breakaway, and was awarded a penalty shot. Panthers forward Stephen Weiss vehemently argued the call, and was ejected with a game misconduct.
Read skated in on goaltender Jose Theodore and didn't attempt a deke, instead opting to try to beat the netminder with a shot. His wrister went through Theodore's pads, just barely trickling over the goal line. Read's fourth goal of the season, and first-career shorthanded goal, gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead.
The goal would prove to be invaluable, as Florida's Tomas Fleischmann scored with 7.4 seconds remaining in the third period to make it a one-goal game at 3-2.
Philadelphia has been this year’s version of the “Road Warriors”, sporting an NHL-best 5-1-1 record away from home. The Panthers suffered just their second home loss in regulation time in the young season.
Knowing that Florida possessed the League’s fourth most successful man advantage unit, Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette stressed the importance of not continuing their ways of yielding an inordinate amount of power play opportunities to their opponents. They didn’t accomplish staying out of the penalty box on this night, but they did kill off all seven Panthers opportunities. Philadelphia’s penalty killers now have killed off 28 of the last 29 opponent power plays.
Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Danny Briere pounced on a James van Riemsdyk rebound, and flipped a backhander into the top short-side corner before Theodore could get over to cover the post. It was Briere's fifth goal of the season, and first in his last four contests.
Read chipped the puck past a pinching Florida defenseman to Maxime Talbot, who sent a pass to Braydon Coburn, who was joining the rush. Coburn hit Jakub Voracek with a pass along the right wing side as they entered the Panther zone, and Voracek hit Coburn with a beautiful give-and-go for the goal and a 2-0 lead at the 6:50 mark of the middle frame.
Evgeni Dadonov, called up because of winger Scottie Upshall being scratched for the game, skated around Chris Pronger down the left wing and snapped a shot. It appeared that Pronger's last-ditch effort to block the shot deflected the puck, and it eluded Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to cut the Flyers' lead to 2-1 at 10:20 of the second period.
Bryzgalov played another strong game in net for Philadelphia, stopping 31 of 33 Florida shots in improving his season record to 7-4-2. He is now 4-0-1 in his last five decisions, giving up just nine goals during that stretch.
Although stopping 32 of 35 Flyers’ shots, Theodore suffered the defeat. His record dropped to 6-3-2, and the regulation loss snapped his 4-0-2 streak.
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