Panthers forward David Booth was released from a Philadelphia hospital Sunday after he sustained a concussion during Florida's 5-1 loss to the Flyers on Saturday night.

Booth, 24, never has been concussed before, and general manager Randy Sexton said the team is going to closely monitor their energetic winger. Booth is known to take his workouts to extreme measures, and the Panthers medical staff will be watching to make sure he doesn't overdo things while he's out.

Sexton said he and Booth had a long phone conversation Sunday morning on a variety of subjects. Booth, who sustained no other injuries except for some facial cuts, is expected to miss at least the next week of action.

``He's never had a concussion before, and it's a unique injury,'' Sexton said. ``There is a protocol you have to follow, and David will do that. We don't want the David Booth [type of] commitment to this in coming back. This is a process. If he's not feeling OK, 100 push-ups will not fix it. He has to follow the guidelines of our medical staff, and I believe he will.''

Philadelphia captain Mike Richards, who administered the controversial hit, will not be suspended and was allowed to play in the Flyers' home game Sunday night against San Jose.

Sexton and the Panthers were not pleased with the decision, believing the hit by Richards was intentional. Sexton said he had not spoken to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly on the matter, but had the decision explained to him ``step by step'' by the league's hockey operations office. ``We just have to move on,'' Sexton said.

Usually in hockey, hits by Richards are responded to on the ice. That was not the case Saturday as the Panthers did not actively seek out retribution for the Richards hit nor for the knee-to-knee hit that knocked out Radek Dvorak earlier in the second period.

TOUGHNESS LACKING

Coach Pete DeBoer and Sexton like to say their team is tough to play against, but that hasn't been the case this season. The Panthers don't look very tough, and they haven't been very good. Florida has won two of its first nine; three of the seven losses have been by four goals or more.

Saturday, in the moments right after the Booth hit, there were a few skirmishes on the ice, but attention quickly turned to the motionless Booth.

The Panthers had a decision to make once the game resumed: Get some retribution for the hit or try to get back into the game. With a lengthy power play coming up thanks to the penalty called on Richards, the Panthers went with the latter.

``You can run somebody, start a fight, get an instigator [penalty],'' defenseman Keith Ballard said. ``But we had a five-minute power play. We don't score, don't hit anybody, don't really do anything. At the end of the day, pick one thing. If we're not going to score, run someone over, get into a fight.''

PAY ON SCOREBOARD

DeBoer was asked if he was concerned about his team's toughness, and he said that fighting doesn't necessarily make a team tough.

``Would I have felt better if we got into a fight afterward? No,'' DeBoer said Saturday night. ``We need to make them pay on the scoreboard. We didn't do that.''

Florida doesn't have what would be considered an enforcer and two of its better brawlers -- Nick Tarnasky and Bryan Allen -- didn't play Saturday.

Allen, taking a night off because of his surgically repaired left knee, watched Booth get hit from his spot in the press box high atop the Philadelphia arena.

``Obviously you can't let liberties be taken, but it's tough to say anything when you're not on the ice,'' Allen said after the game. ``I had a lot of emotions [Saturday]. I was worried for him, sick to my stomach. I was just upset I wasn't out there.''

• Sexton said a decision on rookie defenseman Dmitry Kulikov would be made this week. Kulikov has played in nine games and if he plays in one more, the first year of his entry-level contract kicks in.

• Dvorak (left leg) is being evaluated by the team's medical staff, but Sexton says he's not expected to play Wednesday against Ottawa. Florida will make at least two call-ups from its minor-league team.

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