Tyson Foerster and Sean Couturier score in the final minute in Flyers’ 4-2 road win over Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. — Standing outside the locker room on Wednesday night in the bowels of Amerant Bank Arena, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet asked if his team was done playing the Florida Panthers.

When told the season series was complete, he said, “Thank God.” But hold on there. The Flyers took two of three games against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers with a last-minute 4-2 victory on Thanksgiving Eve.

Tyson Foerster scored the game-winning goal with 45.2 seconds left in regulation, and Sean Couturier added a deflection up and over goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with 25 seconds left to give the Flyers the win.

Foerster’s goal came after his initial shot was blocked by Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, and the puck went right back to him. He patiently waited and picked his spot to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.

Couturier’s goal came off a heads-up play by Christian Dvorak to put the puck on net. Up by a goal, Tocchet also had Noah Cates on the ice, and the center was ready to pounce just in case.

The Flyers have won three of their past four games and four of their past six. They also lead the NHL with 10 comeback wins.

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The Flyers came out ready to play. Before the Panthers got their first shot on goal 4 minutes, 33 seconds into the game, the Flyers had four shots on goal and six more that were either blocked or missed the net.

But, like usual, the Flyers fell into a 1-0 hole in the first period.

“Yeah, I liked our start, and then obviously they flipped the table on us. [Dan Vladař] was unreal, and of course, he saved our bacon,” Tocchet said. “Getting out of [the first period down] 1-0, kind of regrouped, and made a couple of adjustments, and stuff like that. But I thought the resilience of the guys, give them a lot of credit.”

The ice started tilting when Emil Andrae skated out from behind the net, and the puck slid off his stick. It led to a barrage of shots by the home team.

Within 19 seconds, the Panthers put six shots on Dan Vladař, with another hitting the crossbar. The Flyers got the puck out, and at the other end, Nick Seeler had his stick break on a point shot, creating a turnover.

The Panthers skated out with Sam Bennett eventually getting the puck back in the Flyers’ end. Bennett skated around Matvei Michkov, who got back but pulled down the forward as he cut across the crease with the puck sliding under Seeler. Michkov would have been called for a penalty if Brad Marchand hadn’t buried the puck.

It is the 16th time this season the Flyers have trailed 1-0. They have played only 22 games. They are 9-5-2 when trailing first.

“Yeah, we always get scored on first, it seems like,” Foerster said. “But it’s not a good thing, but it’s great that we always come back and we give a good effort every night.”

The Hockey Gods certainly love to dole it out. Andrae had a rough start and was also on the ice for the Panthers’ second goal in the second period, with Carter Verhaeghe finishing off a pretty passing play.

But he bounced back with authority.

“What I really like about that is, yeah, he had a tough first, right? But the game’s not over. There’s 40 minutes left, and he was a factor,” Tocchet said.

Andrae cut the Panthers’ lead in half with his first goal of the season. After some sustained pressure by the Flyers, Andrae got the puck at the left point and threw it on net. With a ton of traffic in front, which included Trevor Zegras, Dvorak, and two Panthers, the puck threaded the needle and got past the former Flyers goalie Bobrovsky, who did not have his stick.

“Obviously, you have your ups and downs in your season and in the game. So it was a little slow start in the first there, and just trying to get back to simple and hard, and let the game come to me,” Andrae said. “So think that worked pretty well tonight.”

Less than a minute later, Andrae was in the penalty box for high-sticking, but the Flyers entered the night with the fourth-best penalty kill (85.5%) — it finished a perfect 3-for-3 — and held the Panthers to one shot on goal and one blocked shot.

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On his next shift after serving his time, Andrae helped tie the game up. Controlling the puck, Andrae and Jamie Drysdale used their best commodity — their footwork — to cross atop the circles. Andrae then got the puck back and sent a shot on goal that Michkov deflected in. The goal is Michkov’s sixth of the year and his fifth in the last nine games.

“I think that’s something we’re trying to emphasize in our offensive game as a team. So yeah, I mean, we’re both good at moving our legs and trying to create shooting lines that way,” Andrae said. “So, yeah, it was a great play, and glad it went in.”

Andrae’s miscue tilted the ice away from the Flyers, but his offensive game tilted it right back as the visitors started to take over control of the game.

People questioned the signing of goaltender Vladař on July 1, but he has been nothing short of the Flyers’ best player this season.

“Just from the beginning of the year, just the buy-in, the excitement he brings to our team as a goalie, coming by the bench [during the] timeouts and obviously standing tall for us when it wasn’t good for the last 10 minutes of the first,” Tocchet said. “We had a little rope-a-dope, and he kind of held it together for us.”

The Panthers put 15 shots on goal in the first period, with several coming from high-danger areas, and he allowed just one goal. He stopped a Gustav Forsling point shot with his pad before robbing Verhaeghe from seven feet out. Vladař also stopped Noah Gregor as he weaved through the Flyers’ defense.

Despite trailing 1-0 after the first period, Vladař stayed positive.

“At the end of the day, it’s just hockey,” he said. “We are here for each other. And I’m pretty sure if we’re going to keep sticking up for each other, then good things are going to happen to a good team. So I think we are a good team.”

In the second period, things settled down, and he faced just five shots on goal. But it’s about quality and not quantity, and Vladař robbed A.J. Greer as he sneaked behind the defense and tried to score on the backhand.

And with the game tied 2-2, he reached back to make a sliding glove save on Uvis Balinskis. Vladař finished with 25 saves to earn his ninth win of the season in 13 games.

While there is the “Great 8,” in Alexander Ovechkin, according to Foerster, his teammates call Vladař, “The Great 8-0.”

“Don’t want to get it too high and at the same time too low,” the goalie said. “As I’ve said a lot of times, [it’s] a long year. So got to keep grinding, keep getting better every day. And, hopefully, we are going to accomplish something till Game 82.”

Defenseman Egor Zamula and forward Nic Deslauriers were the healthy scratches. … Forward Owen Tippett had the secondary assist on Andrae’s goal for the 100th of his NHL career. … Couturier snapped a 17-game goal drought with his third of the year.

The Flyers practice in Florida before heading north for Thanksgiving and have a Black Friday matchup at the New York Islanders (4 p.m., NBCSP).