Tarasenko Makes Debut, Panthers Fall Late to Flyers

SUNRISE — The Philadelphia Flyers were the last team to beat the Panthers at home — on Feb. 6. In their return to Sunrise, they repeated the occasion, defeating Florida 2-1 with a last second winning goal.

Garnet Hathaway gave Philadelphia their 33rd win after scoring with 21.3 seconds left in Thursday night’s contest.

Samuel Ersson had 29 saves in an important win for the Flyers as they hold the final metropolitan playoff spot with 18 games remaining on their schedule. 

Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky had 24 saves in the loss — the Panthers are now 43-17-4 on the season but remain first in the NHL standings. 

After a scoreless opening period, the Flyers broke the ice just 10 seconds into the second.

Ryan Poehling drove the net, dropped the shoulder and roofed his eighth goal of the season over Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. 

Philadelphia’s lead lasted seven minutes before Florida would answer. 

7:12 into the season, Gustav Forsling scored his 10th goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1. 

Thursday was a great personal day for the Panthers’ top-line defenseman. Before he ripped a point shot past Flyers goalie Samuel Errson, the 27-year-old inked an eight-year, $46M extension with the Panthers — cementing him as a solidified core piece going forward in Sunrise. 

Forsling, who was a waiver pickup when he was brought to Florida in 2021, reflected on his journey from nearly going to the AHL to signing a maximum term extension.

“It’s very emotional actually, it’s life changing,” Forsling said. “I’m just very grateful for everything they’ve done (Bill Zito and the Panthers).”

The last day and a half leading up to Thursday’s games was an exciting period in South Florida.

All eyes were on the Panthers after gm Bill Zito made a big swing to acquire four-time All-Star, Vladimir Tarasenko from Ottawa. 

After being acquired on Wednesday, Tarasenko took the ice for his Florida Panthers debut.

Tarasenko, 32, played on Florida’s top line with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. He also appeared on the Panthers’ second power play unit.

“I like the small things that he did that are non skill related,” head coach Paul Maurice said when speaking of Tarasenko’s debut. “The skill’s there, we’re not worried about that. But he blocked some shots and picked up reads very quickly with a whole bunch of new systems.”

The two sides kept the game tied for most of the night. It wasn’t until the final minute of play where someone would break the deadlock. 

Garnet Hathaway’s seventh goal of the season came at the perfect time as he snuck a rebound shot behind Bobrovsky for the game winner. 

Panthers Notes

The Panthers’ next opponent will be the Calgary Flames, this Saturday afternoon at home

Friday, March 8th at 3 p.m. ET is the NHL Trade Deadline. The Panthers have just over $3M in deadline cap space if they wish to make any additional moves