FLYERS NEWS

The Flyers stayed hot tonight against the Florida Panthers as Antero Niittymaki racked up yet another win and 28 more saves. The Flyers got off to a blistering start and it was just enough to hang on late for the win. In the 1st period of play, Kimmo Timmonen and Jay Bouwmeester scored early for a 1-1 tie. Then the Orange and Black reeled off three late goals in the space of 5 minutes(Simon Gagne, and Daniel Briere scored power play goals, while Scott Hartnell tapped one in at even strength), to take a commanding 4-1 lead into the break. In the second period Rostislav Olesz and Stephen Weiss each scored late goals for the Panthers to cut the lead to 4-3. Late in the 3rd period Carolina still trailed 4-3 and pulled goalie Tomas Vokoun in favor of the extra attacker. The move backfired as Briere scored on the Panther's empty net with just under 40 seconds to play to clinch a 5-3 Flyer's victory. So the Flyers improve to 24-15-5, but remain in 3rd place in the Atlantic division.