With a good crowd behind them, the Flyers took down the Panthers, 5-2, in their home opener Monday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Sean Couturier, Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink and Christian Dvorak scored goals for the Flyers, who improved to 1-1-1 with their first win.
Couturier’s second goal of the night was the game-winner with 4:10 minutes left in the third period. Trevor Zegras found him with a beautiful assist from behind the net.
The goals from Brink and Dvorak were empty-netters.
Rick Tocchet’s club handed the two-time defending champion Panthers (3-1-0) their first loss. Florida remained without injured forwards Aleksander Barkov (knee) and Matthew Tkachuk (groin).
The Flyers are 1-1-0 against the Panthers with one more matchup to go. The clubs meet Nov. 26 back in Sunrise, Florida, where the Flyers opened the season last Thursday.
• What a difference in home openers for Couturier.
In last season’s home opener, the established center puzzlingly started the game on the fourth-line left wing.
In this season’s home opener, he had two goals and two assists.
The 32-year-old captain unleashed a huge pump of the fist after cushioning the Flyers’ lead to 2-0 with a breakaway goal in the middle stanza. Travis Konecny found him with an excellent pass.
Couturier was terrific all night.
• Dan Vladar converted 24 saves on 26 shots in his regular-season home debut with the Flyers.
He made some athletic and timely saves. In each of his two starts so far, he has given up only two goals.
Sam Reinhart cracked him late in the second period with a shorthanded goal, drawing the Panthers within 2-1 at second intermission.
Vladar fell on Sam Bennett’s game-tying power play goal about midway through the third period.
The Flyers’ penalty kill went 4 for 5.
Florida backup Daniil Tarasov stopped 17 of 20 shots.
• After being called up Sunday from AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley, Emil Andrae made his season debut in place of Egor Zamula.
The Flyers’ defensive depth is being challenged right now and Tocchet has been wanting more consistency from his bottom pair so he can better allocate minutes.
“We’re looking for somebody to make a statement on defense,” the head coach said after morning skate.
Andrae was real solid against the Panthers. The 23-year-old played with his confident puck-moving style. He was assigned to the Phantoms after playing in just two preseason games.
“Of course I was disappointed to get sent down, I didn’t play well enough to make the roster,” Andrae said after morning skate. “I just had the mindset to get back here. Go down to Lehigh, even if it takes one game or two months, I want to get back here. It’s my goal. Now I’ve got an opportunity and I’ve got to take it.”
The Flyers want to see Zamula improve his decision-making process with the puck. Former head coach John Tortorella always wanted Zamula to play with more pace.
“Yeah, I think there’s a little bit of validity to that,” Tocchet said after morning skate. “I think he gets the puck and he’s staring at his options. There’s 20 feet of space, I want him to get going. You don’t have to be the fastest player, but I think if you think faster, you look faster. That’s something he has to get better at.”
• Cam York missed a third straight game, but the top-pair defenseman took part in morning skate.
The 24-year-old has been considered day to day with a lower-body injury.
The Flyers have a couple of practices before their next game, giving York a good runway to potentially return this week.
“There is a possibility he could play Thursday,” Tocchet said after morning skate.
• The Flyers debuted their No. 1 jersey patch, which will be worn all season to honor the late Bernie Parent.
His No. 1, which hangs in the rafters here, will also be displayed on the ice behind each net.
The organization’s beloved former goalie, a Hockey Fall of Famer who led the Flyers to their back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, died Sept. 21 at the age of 80.
• The Flyers are scheduled to practice Tuesday and Wednesday before hosting the Jets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Winnipeg won the Presidents’ Trophy last season, so it’s another early test for the Flyers.
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