Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scor

(Sports Network) - While the Philadelphia Flyers came out of the Olympic break with all the momentum they had before the time off, the Florida Panthers were unable to reverse their losing ways.

Philadelphia will try to win a season-high sixth game in a row and extend Florida's longest skid of the campaign to eight straight contests this evening at BankAtlantic Center.

The Flyers won their final four games before the break, completing home-and- home sweeps of the New Jersey and Montreal before notching a 7-2 victory over Tampa Bay last night. That win has Philadelphia in position to win six straight for the first time since November 15-26, 2008.

The Flyers trailed 2-1 in the second period before ripping off six straight goals, including five in the final frame to give them a three-point edge over Montreal for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Mike Richards, who won a goal medal with Team Canada in the Vancouver games, had a goal and three assists, while Simon Gagne had a pair of power-play goals and a helper. Claude Giroux also scored on the man advantage and Jeff Carter scored short-handed for his sixth goal in his last five games and 28th of the season.

Michael Leighton, expected to handle the bulk of the netminding duties with Ray Emery set for season-ending hip surgery, made 36 saves.

"We were sloppy in the execution on defense in the first period, let them get away with too much in the zone, but tried to force things that way," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. "That in turn led to more offense in the second period, then in the third we just kept pushing and played more opportunistic offensively."

Defenseman Oskars Bartulis sat out due to a groin strain, but fellow blueliner Ryan Parent returned after missing the previous 24 games due to back surgery.

While the Flyers have hit a stride, the Panthers continue to struggle. They dropped a 4-2 test in Atlanta last night to extend their losing streak to seven games while also failing to score more than two goals for a 14th game in a row. The club is on its longest skid since an 0-8-4 stretch from October 27- November 23, 2005.

"We knew tonight we had to be opportunistic around their net and cash in on our chances," said Florida head coach Peter DeBoer, whose club is seven points back of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "I didn't think we did a good enough job. We have to find a way to bury some chances."

Stephen Weiss scored his 22nd goal of the season in the loss, while David Booth scored for the first time since October 24. Booth suffered a concussion in that game, which was against the Flyers, and missed 45 games before returning on January 31.

Scott Clemmensen stopped 35 shots for Florida last night in his first start since December 27. Tomas Vokoun had made 21 straight starts before the break and also played for the Czech Republic in Vancouver.

Though the subject of trade rumors, Vokoun is expected to start tonight. He made 30 saves in a 4-1 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia on December 21, the Panthers' second in three games versus the Flyers this year.

Brian Boucher started that game in net for the Flyers, but left with a finger injury and was replaced by Leighton. He hasn't started a game since.

The Flyers have lost in five of their last seven trips to Florida, including a 4-2 setback on October 16 of this season.