Flyers 2, Panthers 1
Steve Mason made 33 saves as host Philadelphia prevailed in Craig Berube's first game as an NHL head coach.
Brayden Schenn and defenseman Braydon Coburn scored first-period goals for the Flyers, who fired coach Peter Laviolette on Monday after an 0-3-0 start. Vincent Lecavalier recorded an assist, giving him three points in his first four games in a Philadelphia uniform.
Florida goaltender Tim Thomas, who returned to the NHL after sitting out the 2012-13 season, left in the first period with a lower-body injury. Brad Boyes scored and Jacob Markstrom stopped all 25 shots he faced as the Panthers fell to 1-2-0 on their season-opening four-game road trip.
Schenn opened the scoring at 4:49, when he knocked a rebound past Thomas after Jakub Voracek purposely shot the puck off the end boards. The Flyers made it 2-0 as Thomas appeared to injure himself after stopping Sean Couturier's shot and could not slide over to stop Coburn's rebound blast from near the blue line at 7:31.
Mason's best two saves came in the second period, when he closed his pads to deny Shawn Matthias on a short-handed breakaway and thwarted Tomas Fleischmann with a toe save. Mason couldn't stop Boyes, however, as he deposited the rebound of defenseman Brian Campbell's shot into an open net with seven seconds left in the session.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Panthers were 0-for-5 on the power play and haven't scored in their first 16 opportunities this season. ... Florida C Aleksander Barkov, the youngest player in the NHL at 18 years, 37 days, recorded his first career assist. He scored his first goal in his NHL debut Thursday. ... Panthers D Erik Gudbranson received a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding Scott Hartnell with 9:59 remaining.