Panthers overpower Flyers

SUNRISE, Fla. - An optimist would say the Flyers - having won five straight and allowing two goals or fewer in 12 of their previous 13 games - were due for a clunker.

A pessimist would say the Flyers' 7-4 loss to the Florida Panthers tonight demonstrated that they should have bolstered their defense before the trade deadline expired earlier in the day.

Sloppy defense, poor goaltending, and too many penalties plagued the Flyers as their winning streak came to an end at the sparsely filled BankAtlantic Center.

Florida, which got two goals from Michael Frolik and four points each from David Booth and Bryan McCabe, stopped a seven-game losing skid.

Booth had a goal and three assists in his first game against the Flyers since Mike Richards' hit gave him a concussion on Oct. 24, sidelining him for a little over three months.

The Flyers got to within 6-4 when defenseman Ryan Parent scored on a rebound - it was his first career goal - with 9 minutes, 20 seconds left.

Trailing by 2-0, the Flyers cut the deficit in half on Danny Briere's power-play goal with 11:57 left in the second period.

Scott Hartnell poked the puck away from goalie Tomas Vokoun - who had come far out of the net - and Briere gathered the loose puck and backhanded a shot into the vacated cage.

Four minutes after Briere's goal, Booth made it 3-1 when his right-circle shot went through the legs of goalie Michael Leighton.

Jeff Carter countered with a power-play goal 12 seconds later, but 24 seconds after that score, Jason Garrison's first NHL goal gave Florida a 4-2 lead. Garrison's left-circle shot went under the glove of Leighton.

If you're scoring at home, that's three goals in a 36-second span.

For the first time since he was claimed off re-entry waivers on Dec. 15, Leighton realized he would be the Flyers' main goalie the rest of the way.

That's because the trade deadline passed yesterday and the Flyers opted not to add a goaltender.

"He's done everything we've asked," coach Peter Laviolette said before the game.

Tonight, however, Leighton was shaky for one of the few times since the Flyers claimed him. He allowed four goals on 26 shots and was replaced by Brian Boucher with 7:20 left in the middle period.

Boucher yielded a goal on the first shot he faced - a tracer by Stephen Weiss just inside the left post while Florida was on a power play with 4:59 left in the second period. About 21/2 minutes later, Frolik made it 6-2 by scoring on a juicy rebound.

Ville Leino, making his Flyers debut, scored after a clever move and a backhander, getting the Flyers within 6-3 with 18.6 seconds left in the second period.

After three early fights - including a grudge match for Booth against Richards - Leighton allowed the game's first goal, but he couldn't be faulted.

A crossing pass sent by Cory Stillman from near the left boards appeared to carom off Steven Reinprecht's leg and into the net with 12:48 left in the first period.

Earlier, the game had barely started when Ian Laperriere and Florida's Gregory Campbell got into a fight. Laperrierre knocked down Campbell with a right. The game was three seconds old.

Two seconds later, Florida's Nick Tarnasky dominated Arron Asham in the game's second fight.

Two fights in five seconds. At that rate, the game would have included 1,440 bouts.

The game settled down for a few minutes before Richards and Booth battled to a draw with 17:15 left in the first period.

Tonight was the first time Richards and Booth faced each other since the October hit, which cost Booth a chance to make the U.S. Olympic team.

After that game, Richards texted three members of the Panthers, including Booth, to check on the injured player's status.

But from Florida's perspective, bad feelings remained.