PHILADELPHIA -- The Florida Panthers (4-5-1) defeated the Philadelphia Flyers (4-6-1) on Thursday night, by way a shootout, 3-2.
Panthers vs. Flyers final: Florida earns victory via shootout
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Florida has now recorded at least one point in their last four games and have won three of their last four.
The loss ended a two-game winning streak for Philadelphia, but began a streak of three games were the club has registered at least one point.
Florida opened the scoring at the mid-way mark of the first period when Jack Skille gained speed through the neutral zone and beat goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.
The lead was short lived, however, as Flyers forward Jakub Voracek brought the score even less than a minute later when he registered his second goal of the season on a power play opportunity.
Philadelphia registered the game's next strike when Matt Read roofed a loose puck to pull the team ahead 2-1. The goal marked Read's fourth of the season, all of which have come against the Panthers (he registered a hat-trick in the first meeting between the two clubs earlier this season).
Florida managed to even the score near the mid-way mark of the third period when Stephen Weiss recorded his first goal of the season in the opening seconds of a Bruno Gervais tripping minor.
With the game knotted at two at the end of regulation, the two clubs went to overtime.
This marked the second consecutive occurrence of extra-time for the Panthers and was the first instance of the season for the Flyers.
Philadelphia carried the majority of play in the extra stanza, registering five shots to zero. However, the club was unable to capitalize on any of their opportunities, which ultimately proved costly.
When the game went to the shootout, Jonathan Huberdeau and Peter Mueller both scored on the Panthers' first two attempts. Goaltender Jose Theodore managed to stop the Philadelphia attempts from Read and captain Claude Giroux, icing the game in Florida's favor.
Theodore ended the 65-minute contest with 30 saves on 32 shots. Bryzgalov registered 22 saves on 24 shots.
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, with Philadelphia playing the final game of a four-game home stand against the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida finishing out a four-game road trip against the Washington Capitals.
Both Florida and Philadelphia have registered 2-0-1 records during their respective stands entering Saturday.
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