[Drew]

Source: ESPN.com

Michal Handzus and Joni Pitkanen each had a goal and assist and Robert Esche stopped 21 shots, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.

Justin Williams, Jeremy Roenick and John LeClair also had goals for Philadelphia, off to a 4-1-3 start. Mark Recchi, Tony Amonte and Simon Gagne added two assists apiece.

Viktor Kozlov scored for the Panthers, who have lost two of three.

Roenick and Handzus scored 59 seconds apart in the second period to break open a one-goal game.

Just 2:18 after Kozlov's unassisted goal cut the Flyers' lead to 2-1, Roenick slapped a shot past Panthers goaltender Steve Shields to make it 3-1.

Handzus then got a rebound off a shot by Gagne and stuffed it between Shields' legs for a 4-1 lead. It was Philadelphia's second power-play goal in two chances.

Williams scored with the man-advantage midway through the first period to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. He took a crisp pass from Handzus and slipped it past Roberto Luongo, ending the goalie's night.

Panthers coach Mike Keenan pulled Luongo for Shields after the Flyers scored their second goal on just five shots. Luongo came in having stopped 267 of a league-high 282 shots in eight games.

Esche won his second straight start. He shut out Montreal 5-0 on Monday night.

LeClair capped the scoring with a power-play goal late in the third period.

The Flyers finished 3-for-8 on the power play, and are 8-for-23 this season at home with a man-advantage. They had one of the league's worst power-play units last year, especially at home where they finished 23rd in the league with a success rate of 13.7 percent.

Game Notes
Recchi played in his 1,100th game and LeClair played in his 800th. ... The Flyers had won only one of their last five home games against Florida. ... D Filip Novak (ankle), D Kristian Kudroc (ankle), D Mathieu Biron (hand), RW Valeri Bure (groin) and C Matt Cullen (groin) didn't play for Florida. ... LW Donald Brashear (knee) and LW Radovan Somik (knee) were out for the Flyers. ... Kozlov has a point in four straight games. ... The Flyers went 2-0-1 on a short homestand.

[Drew]

3-for-8 on the power play...need I say more?

[Jlg-28]

good game , punk panthers tryin to start stuff at the end , anyways the true test comes tomorrow in NJ , go flyers

[eleven24]

Great game last night. Gotta love the PP. Drew, I agree 3 for 8 is awesome, but consider that the last 3 power plays the Flyers already had the game in hand. Case in point, Chris Therien was on the ice.

What makes the PP even more impressive is not that they're scoring, is that they are controlling the puck so well. They could've easily started the game 5 for 5.

I don't think it's any coincidence that the PP struggled when Hitch sat Pitkanen. Man, the kid has poise. I can't remember the last time we had a legitimate threat from the blueline. I know it's early, but the Flyers PP last year was (I think) 14-15%. This year it's clicking along at 25%. Let's hope it stays this way!

One sidenote: The Rangers, with all of their high priced talent are still "O-Fer" this year on the PP. 0 for 30 to be exact. Good to see.

[TheSwami]

Awesome! Lets hope they keep it rolling!!