Flyers with a 2-1 win in Game 7 in the first round on Wednesday

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. The left wing scored his first two regular-season goals in 18 months and Tim Thomas made 38 saves to lift the Florida Panthers over the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 on Monday night. It was the first time Bergenheim scored in the regular season since March 20, 2012, also against Philadelphia. His last goal came on April 24, 2012, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the New Jersey Devils. Bergenheim missed last season due to injury and was playing his 10th game this season. He had multiple surgeries before finally returning to the lineup on Oct. 25. "Its been such a long road and theres been so many downs -- a few ups, but mostly downs," Bergenheim said. "Its been tough, really." Bergenheim nearly put a third goal into an empty net but couldnt get control of the puck in the closing seconds. "Too bad I couldnt finish that last one," he said. "It was a good, good win. ... All in all it feels good that were headed in the right direction." Erik Gudbranson also scored for Florida, his first of the season. Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers, and Steve Mason stopped 28 shots. The Panthers have won three of their past five games and evened the season series against the Flyers at a game apiece. Philadelphia lost for the first time in four games and the second time in the past eight. The Flyers failed to get a point for the first time in eight games. "Coming on the road, we wanted to play a simple game," Simmonds said. "We complicated things and didnt play the way weve been playing in previous games." The Panthers stretched their lead to 3-1 on Gudbransons fluky goal with just over 4 minutes left. Gudbranson took a shot from the point that bounced over Masons shoulder at 15:56. "It was just about getting it through, getting it on net and hoping for the best," Gudbranson said. "Its nice to get the monkey off my back. I got a lucky bounce for it going up like that, but still it counts." The Flyers closed to 2-1 on Simmonds power-play goal at 7:06 of the third. Thomas stopped a shot by Scott Hartnell, but Simmonds got control of the rebound near the crease and wristed it past Thomas. The Flyers were sluggish the first two periods and might have been guilty of overlooking the Panthers. "I hope not," coach Craig Berube said. "Who are we to overlook anybody? We talked about it before the game, about being ready. Im not sure we were." Florida took a 1-0 lead in the second on Bergenheims first goal. The puck was bouncing around the Flyers net and Bergenheim had several attempts from behind. He stayed with it and finally slid in the puck with a wraparound on the short side at 3:35. The Panthers had killed off a power play moments earlier that included a 5-on-3 for 1:23. "(That) was huge. We had our chances," Flyers forward Claude Giroux said. "Five-on-three has to be automatic." Florida went ahead 2-0 on Bergenheims second goal during a power play. Marcel Goc took a shot from the top of the left circle and Bergenheim tipped it past Mason on the glove side at 13:59 of the second. It was the first power-play goal for the Panthers in their last 10 attempts over three games. NOTES: The Panthers placed RW Tomas Kopecky on injured reserve, retroactive to last Friday, with an upper-body injury. He is expected to miss two games. ... Panthers D Matt Gilroy also is on injured reserve and is expected to miss at least three games with a lower-body injury. ... Florida named its press box in memory of its first coach, the late Roger Neilson. ... The Flyers began a stretch in which they will play nine of 11 games on the road. Paul Molitor Jersey . Darren Collison and Blake Griffin scored 23 points apiece and the Clippers beat the Suns 112-108 Wednesday night, their fourth win in a row and 17th in the last 19 games. Joe Carter Jersey . Now the Minnesota Vikings have set their sights on soccer. http://www.bluejaysonline.com/blue-jays-roy-halladay-jersey/ . Nine years later, he might have finally figured it out. He had only five rounds in the 60s in his previous eight trips. Marcus Stroman Jersey . No, really, his head. Late in the game, the St. Louis goalie craned his neck into the air to block a shot, taking a puck square in the mask. Roberto Alomar Jersey . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league.PHILADELPHIA -- The Flyers turned the worst start in team history into a playoff berth. They forced Game 7 after a 3-2 series deficit. The Flyers simply ran out of comebacks. Just as it has in every season since winning it all in 1975, Philadelphia heads home without a Stanley Cup. The New York Rangers eliminated the Flyers with a 2-1 win in Game 7 in the first round on Wednesday, extending their championship drought to 38 seasons, the sixth-longest streak in the NHL. There was one sliver of consolation Thursday when team captain Claude Giroux was selected as a Hart Trophy finalist, the leagues MVP award. Giroux matched a career high with 28 goals and finished third in the NHL scoring race (86 points), helping the Flyers rally from a 3-9-0 start. Hes the fifth Flyer to be a finalist, joining Bobby Clarke, Eric Lindros (who both won), and goalies Pelle Lindbergh and Bernie Parent. Individual award nominations are nice, and this one was sweet for Giroux after Team Canada bypassed him for the Olympics. But they simply dont compare to the thrill of hoisting the Stanley Cup. "We do have to be proud of what we did," Giroux said. "Last place and being able to come back and get everybody back on the same page. We had a lot of fun doing it. But right now, it stings a lot we cant be in the second round." Giroux had his chance in 2010 when the Flyers reached Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. But since that tantalizing run, theyve shown few signs of establishing themselves as a perennial contender. As they rallied from the bottom of the East all the way to the playoffs, the Flyers found two key cogs to their future are already in place: Coach Craig Berube and goalie Steve Mason. General manager Paul Holmgren made the right call when he fired Peter Laviolette after an 0-3 start and promoted the coach known as "Chief." After a small adjustment period, he had the Flyers playing as one of the top teams in the conference, leading to a 42-30-10 (94 points) finish.dddddddddddd "We were stuck in a hole for a while and they battled out of it," Berube said. "They stuck together and went to a Game 7." Mason, the NHLs rookie of the year in 2008-09, pushed aside the doubts that lingered from Columbus that he could become a No. 1 goalie and blossomed into their goalie of the future. His mix of sensational saves and easygoing personality helped the Flyers start to erase the memories of Ilya Bryzgalov from their consciousness. "This teams a lot of fun to play with and Im looking forward to growing them in the future," Mason said. Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek form a nice offensive nucleus. Veteran defenceman Kimmo Timonen may decide to retire, though of the rest of the D was a sore point for the Flyers, especially in the post-season when Mason faced tough shot after tough shot with little break. The Flyers might not have made the playoffs without Mason. They might have beat the Rangers with even a solid defensive effort. "At no given time were we feeling we were out of the series, or out of it this season, for that matter," Mason said. This year, the Flyers celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Broad Street Bullies team that left a lasting mark on the league, but has done nothing to get them closer to holding that third championship parade down Philadelphia. The Flyers havent advanced past the second round since the surprising Stanley Cup finals run in 2010. But a year after missing the playoffs, the Flyers at least stabilized themselves and proved that an addition or two on the blue line can push them deeper into the post-season. "Game 7. Lose 2-1. Cant get closer than that," Giroux said. "For a young team, I think its great. Its only going to make us stronger." 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