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First-period outburst propels Flyers past Panthers

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The Flyers scored three in the first, chased Sergei Bobrovsky and never looked back in their win against the Panthers.

The Philadelphia Flyers will need to improve their play on the road in order to remain in the thick of the Eastern Conference Playoff race.

A three-goal first period propelled the Flyers to a 6-2 win against the Florida Panthers at BB&T center. Carter Hart made 26 saves and captured his first road victory since November.

James van Riemsdyk had a goal and two assists as Philadelphia improved to 9-3-1 over its past 13 games. Tyler Pitlick, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Scott Laughton, Sean Couturier and Robert Hagg also scored.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov each scored in the third period, but the Panthers fell to the Flyers for the second time this week. Sergei Bobrovsky exited at the end of the first period after allowing three goals on nine shots. He’s 0-4-1 in his past five starts.

Hart stopped the bleeding

The Panthers scored twice in the first five minutes of the third period to cut the Flyers’ lead in half, but Hart’s biggest save of the night came shortly after when he denied Evgenii Dadonov.

The Flyers have struggled on the road immensely this season and a loss on Thursday could have had a demoralizing effect on the team’s confidence.

While Hart has had his own issues away from home, the 21-year-old showed why the organization believes he has not only the talent, but the mental toughness to be a franchise goaltender.

The adjustment to the NHL is a challenge for any young player. But, a key a third-period save provided a moment of confidence for Hart to look back on and know he has the ability to accomplish anything between the pipes.

NOTE: Shayne Gostisbehere took part in the morning skate, but the defenseman missed his fourth consecutive game.


Scott Charles is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottMCharles.