*Photo from TheScore*
There's a freight train running through the league, and it's from Florida. Brandon Montour had 3 assists, Sam Reinhart had two goals and an assist, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 4-1 victory on Sunday in Philadelphia.
The Panthers snapped a 4 game losing streak with the win but are still just one point away from a tie for the league lead, currently holding 97 points. Reinhart made history for the Panthers, reaching 50 goals on the season to join Pavel Bure as the only 50 goal scorers in a season in team history.
Reinhart said of his achievement that "It's pretty cool. That's obviously a number I've never really thought about. Certainly, the recipient of being put in some very good positions this year and playing with some very good players. So, it's been fun."
The lone goal of the first period came from Reinhart. He scored his 49th goal of the season 10:34 into the game, assisted by Montour and Anton Lundell. With the Panthers on the power play just 55 seconds into the second period, Vladimir Tarasenko scored to double the lead to 2-0, assisted by Montour and Reinhart on his 20th goal of the season.
Carter Verhaeghe scored 4:43 into the 3rd period for the Panthers, giving them a 3-0 lead with Montour and Sam Bennett assisting. Bobby Brink scored on the power play for the Flyers, ending the shutout bid and making it 3-1. With the net empty and 1:12 left on the clock, Reinhart hit goal number 50 to seal the 4-1 win.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said after the game that "We feel like we've had a whole bunch of adversity lately and we kind of need it to be at our best. There won't be a lot of video that we use in terms of perfect style of play of our game. We won't brag about what we were trying to do, but we had some hard efforts out there, and I'm really happy for the team."
It was backup goalie Anthony Stolarz who became the starter in this one for the Panthers. Stolarz had a strong showing in net, stopping all but one of the 33 shots he was tested with by the Flyers. The win improved his record to 14-5-2.
Getting the start between the pipes for the Flyers was their backup Felix Sandstrom. He got saddled with the loss, turning aside 11 out of the 14 shots on goal the Panthers sent his way. He now has a 1-2-0 record in 3 starts.
Sandstrom said of the loss that "It was just one of those days. Not sure why and how it happened. Have to be more detailed and make sure I probably track them better and hold them instead of them bouncing off me. Not fun goals to let in."
Both teams continue their schedules on Tuesday. Sergei Bobrovsky is likely to draw the start in goal for the Panthers as they tangle with the Boston Bruins, while Samuel Ersson is the expected starter for the Flyers against the New York Rangers.
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