Flyers 3, Panthers 2
Jeff Carter scored a pair of goals and Scott Hartnell added his 20th tally as the visiting Philadelphia Flyers skated to a 3-2 triumph over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Brian Boucher made 20 saves and Claude Giroux added an assist for the Flyers (43-19-7), who stayed one point ahead of the surging Washington Capitals (41-20-10) for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Hartnell’s goal gave Philadelphia the lead at the 4:28 mark of the first period, but the Panthers quickly fought back, tying it on Stephen Weiss' 19th goal less than three minutes later and grabbing a 2-1 edge when Dmitry Kulikov scored with 1:49 left in the period.
The Flyers took the lead at the 15:23 mark of the second when Daniel Briere took the puck up the left side on a fast break and flipped a backhanded pass to Carter, who poked it past Tomas Vokoun’s left skate for his 32nd goal.
Carter had tied it 11 minutes earlier when he accepted a pass off a turnover, spun around in the slot and fired a shot that hit Vokoun’s glove. The veteran goaltender failed to secure it, and the puck jumped up and trickled across the line.