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Philadelphia torches Florida

Nov 14, 2010 - 4:09 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Mike Richards and Claude Giroux each tallied twice as Philadelphia topped Florida, 5-2.

Scott Hartnell also scored while Ville Leino and Kimmo Timonen each posted two assists for the Flyers, who have reeled off eight victories in their last nine games.

Sergei Bobrovsky earned his 10th win of the season with a 34-save performance and picked up his first NHL point with an assist.

Cory Stillman and Mike Santorelli scored for the Panthers, who had won two in a row coming in. Scott Clemmensen took the loss, after he was torched for all five goals on 42 shots.

"I thought we were ready to play," lamented Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer. "I thought we were with them for the first 12 minutes. We made a couple mental mistakes from that point. They're a great hockey team, arguably the hottest in the league and they will make you pay."

Already ahead by two, the Flyers seized control of the contest for good with a three-goal middle period.

First, it was Richards, who notched his second of the game on a power play at the 7:46 mark of the second period when he gathered the rebound of a point blast by Chris Pronger and once again beat Clemmensen high from the right circle.

"I see Richards' confidence building. He was really flying out there tonight, noted Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. "He was a noticeable player. He had a lot of speed in his game, a lot of attack too. I thought his line was very good, they had a nice flow."

Giroux was credited with the Flyers' fourth goal of the contest, coming at 9:11, when his body was the last one the puck touched in a goalmouth scramble. A brief review upheld the score, which came prior to the net being dislodged slightly.

Giroux then moved to the backhand and scored under the crossbar on a breakaway with 8:33 to play in the second, before Florida got on the board less than a minute later when Stillman redirected a left-point shot from Keaton Ellerby.

Bobrovsky held through most of the third period, making two point-blank saves on Radek Dvorak just prior to the midway point. He kept his pad to the post to stop a Rostislav Olesz wraparound a minute later, then slid across inside of four minutes left to stop another Florida chance from in close.

Santorelli tallied with 2:11 remaining but it was far too late for a Panthers comeback.

The Flyers hit the scoreboard with 7:46 left in the first period, as Richards took a feed from Andreas Nodl in the high slot, evaded a Florida defender and ripped a wrister over Clemmensen's glove.

It was 2-0 for Philadelphia when Leino set up Hartnell at the left side of the crease for an easy tap-in almost 2 1/2 minutes later.

Game Notes

Prior to the contest, the Flyers announced that they have agreed to terms with forward Jeff Carter on a multi-year contract extension that TSN of Canada reports is worth $58 million over 11 years...The Panthers scratched forward Steve Bernier, who was expected to undergo facial surgery on Saturday after getting the butt-end of Minnesota Wild defenseman Brent Burns' stick in his face on Friday...Florida had taken three of four last season from Philadelphia...Nodl left the game in the second period and did not return after blocking a shot..x-rays taken later proved negative.