Panthers waste early 3-goal lead, rally with 3 goals in final minutes to top Flyers 7-5
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sam Reinhart scored the go-ahead power-play goal with 1:59 left in the game to help the Florida Panthers overcome a blown three-goal lead and beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7-5 on Thursday night.
Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-netter in the final seconds to seal the win. Tkachuk also had four assists for his fourth career five-point game, tying his dad, Keith Tkachuk, for the sixth-most in NHL history.
The Flyers got rolling when Owen Tippett scored consecutive goals and Garnet Hathaway pounced on a rebound in the crease to give them a 5-4 lead. Gustav Forsling tied the game at 5 with just over five minutes left after the Panthers wasted 3-0 and 4-2 leads.
Evan Rodrigues and Niko Mikkola scored in the first period, and Aleksander Barkov scored a power-play goal three minutes into the second for the 3-0 lead.
Flyers coach John Tortorella pulled goalie Ivan Fedotov after he gave up two goals on seven shots in the first and replaced him with Aleksei Kolosov. Kolosov saved 16 of the 20 shots he faced.
Tyson Foerster and Nick Seeler cut the lead to 3-2 in the second, but Carter Verhaeghe answered for Florida and made it 4-2.
Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov had three assists in his first career three-point game.
Takeaways
Panthers: Florida rebounded from a loss at Pittsburgh to win for the fourth time in five games.
Flyers: Philadelphia snapped a three-game winning streak.
Key moment
Tippett was off to a slow start for the Flyers this season until he scored twice in 23 seconds in the final moments of the second period and tied the game at 4. Michkov set up Tippett with an assist. His 22 points lead all NHL rookies.
Up next
The Panthers host the Sharks on Saturday, and the Flyers play the Bruins also on Saturday.
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