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Gagne, Niittymaki help Flyers top Panthers in shootout

Jan 17, 2009 - 5:18 AM By Rick Menning PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Simon Gagne scored the lone goal in the shootout and Antero Niittymaki made 32 saves as the Philadelphia Flyers edged the Florida Panthers, 3-2, on Friday.

Gagne, who put the Flyers ahead, 2-0, with a power-play goal in the first period, beat goaltender Tomas Vokoun with a low backhander in the second round of the bonus format. Niittymaki denied Nathan Horton on Florida's final attempt to clinch the win and help Philadelphia halt a two-game skid.

"I tried to stay aggressive and positive, and carried that into the shootout," Niittymaki said. "I haven't felt all that good in shootouts, but tonight, I thought I had the timing down on their shooters."

All-Star Jeff Carter netted his league-leading 30th goal of the season for the Flyers, who won for just the third time in 10 road games (3-4-3).

"It's a big win. It was nice to bounce back from those two games we lost," Gagne said. "It's never easy to win in this league, and (the Panthers) gave us all we could handle tonight."

"We'll take the win, for sure," Philadelphia's Mike Knuble added. "It's an important two points for us coming off a tough night (against Tampa Bay on Thursday)."

Defensemen Bryan McCabe and All-Star Jay Bouwmeester scored man-advantage tallies for Florida, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.

"We'll take a lot of positives out of tonight," McCabe said. "We didn't get a lot of bounces to go our way, but to a man, we played really hard and got another point."

Outplayed over the first 10 minutes of the contest, the Flyers came to life as their top two goal-scorers cashed in in a span of less than two minutes.

"We're starting to get back to playing the game the right way," Philadelphia coach John Stevens said. "We were checking, skating and moving our feet much better tonight."

With 7:48 remaining in the first period, Carter lifted the puck over a sprawled Vokoun, who had stopped defenseman Braydon Coburn's initial shot.

Entering the game with the second-best power play in the league, Philadelphia doubled its lead 1:56 later, when Gagne found a slight opening on the right side and stuffed in the puck for his 19th goal of the campaign.

After standing tall over the first 34 minutes, Niittymaki was solved late in the second period thanks to some costly penalties.

With blue-liner Randy Jones in the box for holding, McCabe unleashed a one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle that sailed past the Finnish netminder with 5:13 to go in the session, halving Florida's deficit.

Just 2:49 later, Bouwmeester grabbed the puck after it caromed off a defender's skate and wristed it past Niittymaki from the slot for his ninth of the season and a 2-2 tie.

The Panthers outshot the Flyers, 13-3, in the second period and held a 28-15 advantage after 40 minutes.

"I thought we had good energy, good legs," Florida coach Peter DeBoer said. "We probably deserved a better fate, but their goalie made some big saves at key times."

Vokoun turned aside 24 shots.

"After the (first intermission), we came out and played a strong team game and managed to get the point," Vokoun said. "I thought it was a good effort. We had some good scoring chances in overtime but couldn't get the goal."