PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Flyers had hoped to get off a good start. [url=http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/authentic-philipp-grubauer-avalanche -jersey/]Philipp Grubauer Jersey[/url] . Even they couldnt have predicted just how dominant they would be to open the game.Sean Couturier had a goal and an

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Flyers had hoped to get off a good start. Philipp Grubauer Jersey . Even they couldnt have predicted just how dominant they would be to open the game.Sean Couturier had a goal and an assist in the first period, Jakub Voracek continued his offensive surge, and the Flyers cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.The Flyers led 2-0 less than 7 minutes into the game. Couturier deflected in a shot from Brayden Schenn at 3:53, and Michael Del Zotto made it 2-0 less than 3 minutes later with his first goal with the Flyers.We talked about needing to get off to a good start, said Schenn, who had two assists. We tried to jump on them early, and theres a couple of plays we capitalized on.Voracek got his sixth goal of the season to pull into tie with Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby with a league-leading 19 points, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored for Philadelphia, which has won four straight at home.Nick Bjugstad scored his first goal of the season for the Panthers, who had earned at least one point in their previous seven games.Nobody was very good for us tonight, Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. We just werent sharp enough, we werent hungry enough and we didnt battle enough.Steve Mason made 35 saves, including a big third-period stop on Bjugstad, to pick up his second straight win for the Flyers. Roberto Luongo stopped 30 shots for Florida.The Flyers dominated the first period with Couturier opening the scoring. The play developed when Schenn won the puck with a forecheck and Matt Read slid a pass from the corner to him and Schenn one-timed a shot toward net.The same line struck again at 6:38 as Del Zotto scored after rifling a tough-angle shot past an out-of-position Luongo with Schenn and Couturier getting the assists.Schenn, who started the season on the teams first line, believes that getting Couturier and Read going on the third line could turn out to be a huge boost for the team.Youre going to need some secondary scoring, the defenceman said. With the three of us, weve got some good chemistry. As long as we play good defence, the offensive chances will come.Flyers coach Craig Berube has liked what hes seen out of that line as well, saying that he wants to keep Schenn in that spot rather than move him back to the top line to replace Michael Raffl, who will miss six weeks with a foot injury.I like him where hes at, Berube said. I didnt find that (Read) and (Couturier) were shooting enough pucks and getting it to the net. Hopefully Schenn can force that a little and get to the net himself, like he should.The Flyers picked up right where they left off early in the second period with Bellemare one-timing one over Luongos shoulder following a turnover and feed from Carlo Colaiacovo. The assist marked Colaiacovos first point in two games with the Flyers.The Panthers pulled to 3-1 with 8:10 remaining in the second period on a power-play goal from Bjugstad, who pounced on a rebound. Jimmy Hayes, who split the Flyers penalty kill to put a backhander on net, and Dmitry Kulikov got the assists after Phillys Chris VandeVelde was sent to the box for high-sticking.Bjugstad, who had 16 goals and 22 assists last year, was relieved to finally get his first goal of the season.I mean, yeah, you dont really think about how long its going to take, he said. Obviously you dont want it to take that long but you just have to stay positive throughout.It was the first power-play goal the Flyers allowed at home this season, snapping their streak at 19 straight penalty kills.Just 39 seconds later, the Flyers regained their three-goal cushion when Voracek scored as Claude Giroux set him up with a perfectly executed 2-on-1 break.Voracek extended his scoring streak to seven games, with four goals and eight assists during the stretch.It was a great breakout, Voracek said. Obviously (Giroux) is one of the best playmakers in the league. So I was ready for that pass. It was an easy tap-in.NOTES: The win for the Flyers evened a 2-1 loss they suffered to the Panthers five days ago in Florida. ... Thursdays game was the second of a four-game homestand for Philadelphia. . The Panthers have totalled a league-low 16 goals all season. ... The Flyers wore fatigues during warmups for Military Appreciation Night at the Wells Fargo Center, and U.S. servicemen were honoured throughout the game. Gabriel Landeskog Avalanche Jersey . According the CSNBayArea.com, the 31-year-old suffered an ACL injury in his right knee on Friday when he collided with Anaheims Emerson Etem during a pre-season game. John Wensink Avalanche Jersey . Linemates Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner each had a goal and an assist in the first period, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 36 saves to lead the Blue Jackets past the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Saturday night. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/customized/ ." One game is checked off, 15 remain and the next one to get crossed out could come Tuesday night when the defending champion Heat host the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference playoff series.ST. PAUL, Minn. - Corey Crawford may have stolen two points for the Chicago Blackhawks with an impressive performance.Crawford made a season-high 42 saves, Bryan Bickell scored twice in the third period and the Blackhawks held on to beat the heavy-hearted Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Thursday night.That was a goalie win, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. They were the better team tonight, for sure, and we dodged a bullet.Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane also scored for Chicago, which has won four of six. The Blackhawks remained two points behind Nashville in the Central Division.Jason Zucker and Jason Pominville scored for Minnesota, which has lost nine of 11.We were short. Thats the bottom line, Wild captain Mikko Koivu said. But I thought we had a good 60-minute effort from everyone, from the whole team, and thats what were going to need to get out of this.Facing a hot goaltender wouldnt hurt, either.Crawford was at his best in the final two periods when the Wild had 37 shots on goal.I was just trying to look around traffic and to battle as hard as I could through screens and stuff, especially on their power play, he said. They were playing with a lot of energy. We were able to weather the storm.He made a couple great saves for us at crucial times and thats what we need, Bickell said. We need to be better in front of him.The Wild played its second straight game without left wing Zach Parise. His father, former Minnesota North Star J.P. Parise, died Wednesday night after battling lung cancer.Zach Parise, who missed Tuesdays game to be with his family, has been designated as a non-roster player to give him time to grieve. A moment of silence was held before the game and Wild players wore 11 decals on their helmets.But Minnesota needed more than Parise.With Darcy Kuemper, who has started 27 of the Wilds 39 games, out at least a week with lower-body injury, Niklas Backstrom — entering the game 60th in the league with an .896 save percentage — got the call in goal.. Lanny McDonald Jersey. . He made 15 saves.Its not the easiest game to play as a goalie, he said. You have to find a way even if theres not a lot of chances and a lot of shots. When they got a shot, its very much a chance, so you have to find a way for that. You want to be better today.Backstrom might have been able to get a save on Chicagos first goal barely 5 minutes into the game. Sharp gathered a loose puck low in the left circle, cut to the net and tucked the puck behind the Wild goaltender. It marked the first time in seven games that Chicago scored the games first goal.Backstrom had almost no chance when Kane made it 2-0 with a power-play goal late in the period, converting from below the right circle before Backstrom could scurry back across the crease.Minnesotas slow start came one day after coach Mike Yeo laced an expletive-filled tirade at his team during an uninspired practice before breaking his stick over the boards and leaving the ice.We responded the right way, Pominville said. Our bench was positive. Our room was good. We did a lot of good things to give ourselves a chance to win, and if we play that way well probably win most of our games.The teams effort improved dramatically in the second period as the Wild controlled play, outshot Chicago 19-5, and scored the periods lone goal at 1:03.With Minnesota keeping sustained pressure in the offensive zone, Koivu sent a pass along the boards behind the goal to Pominville who passed to Zucker in the slot. Zuckers one-timer beat Crawford high for his team-leading 15th goal.NOTES: The teams meet again Sunday in Chicago. ... The Blackhawks are 14-1-0 when leading after one period; 14-0-0 when leading after two. ... Minnesota D Marco Scandella missed the game with an upper-body injury sustained Tuesday against San Jose. ... Wild F Jordan Schroeder, D Jonathan Blum and G John Curry were recalled from AHL Iowa. ... Chicago LW Daniel Carcillo returned. He was a healthy scratch the past two games. ' ' '