When the week began, the Florida Panthers knew they’d probably have to play without Sergei Bobrovsky on Tuesday. The absences of Sam Bennett and Anthony Duclair, however, were an unexpected wrinkle.
Those three holes in the lineup — Bobrovsky off for rest, Bennett sidelined by an injury and Duclair out for an unspecified reason — were too much for the Panthers to overcome in their second game in as many nights, even against one of the worst teams in the NHL. Florida blew an early lead and fell 6-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers in Pennsylvania.
Goaltender Alex Lyon, who started in place of Bobrovsky to give the star goaltender a badly needed night off, gave up five goals on just 23 shots and the Panthers unraveled in the second period. After Florida knotted the game at 2-2 with 5:43 left in the period, the Flyers scored three goals in the next 4:38 — all in the span of 2:01 — to blow away the Panthers and give Wells Fargo Arena a rare reason to celebrate.
