Jakub Voracek continued his points onslaught while the Flyers finally got on the positive side of points differential Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Voracek scored a goal to run his point streak to seven games. His 19 overall points temporarily tied Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby for the NHL scoring lead.
The Flyers' 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers pushed them over .500 (6-5-2) and also left them with a plus-1 in goal differential. They have scored 41 goals this season versus 40 yielded. It is the first time this season the Flyers have been on the plus side.
Goalie Steve Mason earned a second straight victory with 34 saves.
Florida came into play having not allowed more than two goals in eight of 10 games this season.
Voracek, Wayne Simmonds and Michael Raffl all are tied for the Flyers' goal-scoring lead with six.
Brayden Schenn, playing hard on the puck all night, had two assists while Sean Couturier added a goal and an assist.
Notable goals
That would be Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s goal to start the second period. Zac Rinaldo laid a hard hit on Dmitry Kulikov along the left boards, jarring the puck loose as it squirted into the high slot. Bellemare raced to it and had a half-turnaround shot on Roberto Luongo for his third goal this season.
First goal
Michael Del Zotto’s first goal as a Flyer came at 6:38 of the first period with a tough-angled shot from the left goal line on Luongo. Del Zotto used referee Dean Morton as a screen, too.
First point
Carlo Colaiacovo picked up his first point as Flyer with an assist on Bellemare’s goal.
Goalie report
Mason had another strong game. He made the saves he was supposed to make and had a few tough ones, like the rebound on Scottie Upshal in the final period.
Power play
The Flyers were 0 for 1 and the Panthers were 1 for 4.
Penalty kill
The Flyers came into the game No. 1 in the NHL on penalty killing at home. They were 17 for 17 on the season. It ended on the Flyers' 20th kill.
Injuries
Couturier appeared to injure his back slightly when pushed into the back boards by Panthers defenseman Erik Gudbranson in the third period. He went down hard but skated off and returned.
Scratches
Forward Michael Raffl (right foot); defensemen Braydon Coburn (left foot) and Andrew MacDonald (right knee); forward Blair Jones (healthy).
Up next
The Flyers host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday at 7 p.m.