Brad Marchand scores game-winner as Panthers beat Flyers in another close game
The Florida Panthers know they need to get used to games like this.
Even on a night like Thursday when they dominated in possession and scoring chances, they’re expecting to have to grind out wins.
And grind one out they did.
Brad Marchand scored the go-ahead goal in the third period as the Panthers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 on Thursday at Amerant Bank Arena.
“That’s the right way to win,” Marchand said. “It means they’re playing a good game. Obviously we’re getting a lot of opportunities, and we can score more goals, but I think we’re more concerned about the defensive side of it, making sure that we don’t allow many.”
That’s been the case through two games. In their 3-2 season-opening win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday and their win over Philadelphia on Thursday, the Panthers (2-0-0) have allowed a combined 39 shots on goal while generating 71 of their own.
“We’ll want to be a little sharper on some things because we did have some chances we didn’t finish,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “They got a couple of breaks there that we missed on. But overall, pretty good.”
Anton Lundell also scored for Florida, while Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves to get his 431st career win, moving him six shy of tying Jacques Plante for ninth overall in NHL history.
Marchand’s goal, scored 2:19 into the third period came on a wrist shot from the boards just beyond the left circle on a feed from Luke Kunin after getting on the ice during a partial line change.
Lundell scored his first goal of the season 5:29 into the second period on the power play. Evan Rodrigues sent Lundell a drop pass on the rush before the 24-year-old center fired a wrist shot past Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar, who made 32 saves.
Noah Cates scored with 2:12 left in the second for Philadelphia (0-1-0).
The Panthers close their season-opening three-game homestand on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators (7 p.m., Scripps Sports).
Notable stats
- Kunin and defenseman Jeff Petry each logged their first points with the Panthers. Kunin had the primary assist on Marchand’s goal, while Petry had the secondary assist on Lundell’s goal.
- The Panthers went 2 for 2 on the penalty kill are and 5 for 5 while playing a man down through two games this season.
Injury note
Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov left the game with 9:41 left in the second period with an apparent wrist injury after crashing into the boards while going in for a hit. He did not return.
Maurice said Kulikov will be evaluated on Friday.
This story was originally published October 9, 2025 at 9:39 PM.
.JPG)