The Panthers enjoyed moderate success last season despite struggling on the power play.

The team hadn't done well on special teams again this season, only this time, it had played a big part in the team's slow start.

All that changed in Friday's 4-2 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Panthers' power play had scored on only two of 21 chances entering Friday's game, but Stephen Weiss' goal with a man advantage tied the score at 1-1 in the second period. The team's penalty kill hadn't been much better, stopping opponents just 70 percent of the time. But the Panthers were successful in stopping both Flyers power plays Friday night. And then, of course, was the key play in the game: Radek Dvorak's short-handed goal that gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead in the third period. Dvorak extended his franchise record for most career short-handed goals with his 14th.

``It's getting better,'' coach Pete DeBoer said of the power play before Friday's game. ``It had a bad start to the season against Chicago, but to me, we have three power-play goals in four games. That's where it has to be. Will it be a top-five power play in the league? No. I don't think our personnel dictates that. But there's no reason we shouldn't be middle of the pack.''

Special teams has become a bigger component of the game since new rules were implemented before the 2005-06 season. Those rules, intended to bring faster play, also brought more penalties and more scoring chances. The Panthers were successful on 16.6 percent of power-play chances last season and ranked 24th in the 30-team league. They came into Friday ranked 28th.

NO POUTING

The Panthers weren't moping around this past week despite a 1-4 record that matched the 2000 team for lowest point total in the first five games.

``Morale is good,'' David Booth said. ``. . . We know we're going to win. We're getting closer every game. We just need one to get the guys fired up.''

• The Panthers hadn't been in a fight this entire season. Friday, the team got into a pair of scrums within a minute of each other. First, Gregory Campbell went with Dan Carcillo with 16:38 left in the second. Just 41 seconds later, Bryan Allen and Ian Laperriere battled.

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