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SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Philadelphia Flyers are ready for the playoffs. Claude Giroux scored two goals and the Flyers clinched a Stanley Cup playoff berth by beating the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Tuesday. Tye McGinn, Sean Couturier and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for the Flyers and Steve Mason made 38 saves. The Flyers won their second consecutive game after losing the four previous games and after a 1-7 start to the season, making the playoffs is a big relief. "From the start we got, from the first (eight) games, weve got to be proud of what weve done," Lecavalier said. "Obviously we have to finish strong and make sure that were ready and confident for that first round." Jonathan Huberdeau and Erik Gudbranson scored goals for Florida and Dan Ellis stopped 22 shots. Ellis substituted for Roberto Luongo, a late scratch with an upper-body injury. After the game, Panthers coach Peter Horachek said Luongos injury was muscular soreness and not serious. The Panthers didnt go easily. Trailing 4-0, they scored two goals early in the third period to close to 4-2 and make the Flyers nervous. "We kind of took our foot off the gas," Giroux said. "We only have three games to kind of work on our game and be ready for the playoffs." The Flyers scored four goals in the second period, including three on their first four shots. The Flyers took a 1-0 lead when Lecavalier found a loose puck in the slot and wristed it between Ellis pads at 2:02 for his 20th goal of the season. The Flyers have seven 20-goal scorers. Philadelphia went ahead 2-0 when Giroux fired a shot from the top of the right circle that got cleanly by Ellis at 6:29. The Flyers stretched their lead to 3-0 a few minutes later on Girouxs second goal. Mark Streit dropped a pass to Giroux in the slot and his wrist shot beat Ellis at 8:50. "Just a couple of shots where I?was able to get open and shoot it on net," Giroux said. "Obviously those goals were huge for us to get the lead." Philadelphia went ahead 4-0 with 4:57 left in the second when Couturier wristed in a rebound from the right side. It was his first goal in 18 games. The Panthers have lost six of their past seven games and Ellis has lost all five starts with the Panthers since being acquired from Dallas on March 5. "It was a good start (in the first) but in the second period I just let in four bad goals," Ellis said. "I take responsibility for that loss. ... I cant let two pucks go right through me." Gudbranson scored 1:14 into the third when he fired a shot from just inside the blue line that got past Mason to make the score 4-1. Huberdeau pulled the Panthers to 4-2 when he poked the puck between Masons pads at 5:38 of the third. It was the first goal for Huberdeau since Jan. 20 at Pittsburgh, a span of 19 games. "Obviously, we made it closer than it should have been," said Flyers coach Craig Berube, who was happy the team clinched a spot in the playoffs. "They went through a lot and they battled hard all year. Theyre a good group of guys, good character, and they deserve a lot of credit for making the playoffs." The Flyers made it 5-2 when McGinn took a pass from Lecavalier from behind the net and poked the puck past Ellis with 4:54 left in the third. NOTES: Flyers R Steve Downie returned to the lineup after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. ... Huberdeau returned after missing 11 games with a lower-body injury. ... The Panthers recalled centre Drew Shore from AHL San Antonio and reassigned forward Bobby Butler to the Rampage. Ecco Scarpe Saldi . Yahoo! Sports columnist Marc Spears says that the Boogie Smooth album may have been an elaborate April Fools prank. Ecco Scarpe Offerta . He was 26. Edwards, the Supercup Championship leader, was in the passenger seat as an instructor for a private training session at Queensland Raceway at Willowbank, outside Brisbane, Porsche Motorsport said. http://www.eccooutlet.it/ .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Ecco Outlet Italia . The team announced that it exercised the options on 15 players including goalkeepers Evan Bush, Maxime Crepeau and Troy Perkins, defenders Matteo Ferrari, Karl W. Ecco Scarpe Outlet . Toronto ended an 0-4-0 skid with Sundays shootout win over visiting New Jersey, but the club could have a difficult time making it two victories in a row tonight. The Maple Leafs have dropped three straight and 11 of the last 12 regular- season meetings against Boston overall and the Bruins have claimed six straight in Beantown. SONOMA, Calif. -- Although Dario Franchitti hasnt won an IndyCar race since last years Indianapolis 500, hes in prime position to snap that unpleasant streak when he starts on the pole Sunday in an excellent Honda at Sonoma Raceway. But if he can help Scott Dixon by stepping off the gas a bit, Franchitti would be happy to follow team orders. Franchitti wont put his personal success ahead of Target Chip Ganassi Racings fortunes. That means Dixon will get every chance to gain ground on IndyCar points leader Helio Castroneves (453 points), who leads second-place Dixon (422) with five races to go. "I want to win the race, obviously," Franchitti said after turning a lap in 1 minute, 17.5271 seconds to win his 33rd career pole. "But the big picture -- and we say this every year in our team -- we sit in the first meeting of the year, and our two goals are to win the 500 and win the championship. We didnt win the 500, so weve got to win the championship. Scott is our best shot at that, and whatever I can do to help him win that championship, I will." Will Power also hasnt won an IndyCar race since early last season in Sao Paulo, yet he feels the same way about Team Penske teammate Castroneves, who needs a strong finish in the waning weeks of the IndyCar season to earn his first championship. "Anything to help Helio win the championship," said Power, who finished second in each of the last three years. Dixon finished qualifying in second place at 1:17.7196, while Castroneves starts back in fifth behind Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay. That distance isnt much, but its a bit tougher to make up at Sonoma Raceway, a 2.385-mile road course in Northern California wine country. Passing is uncommonly difficult on the winding, 12-turn Sonoma track, which makes qualifying particularly important. Four pole-sitters have won the race, and nobody has moved up to win from farther than fifth. Its tough even under ideal conditions, but the Bay Area wind has been unpredictable this weeek, its direction changing 180 degrees over the course of many afternoons.dddddddddddd The wind also blows Sonoma sand onto the track, creating unpredictable tire conditions and general uncertainty with every turn. "It was all over the place," Castroneves said after qualifying. "You really have to expect the unexpected all the time -- and then the sun is really beautiful right now, and actually no (wind). It was very difficult for everyone." Charlie Kimball continued his impressive recent work with a sixth-place run Saturday, easily his highest qualifying position in Sonoma. Ganassis Kimball earned his first career victory in IndyCars most recent race in Ohio. "The wind does totally change the track," said Power, who set the track record in qualifying last year. "Our car was quite tough. Im pretty happy. I think the Ganassi guys have definitely got a leg up on everybody here." Franchitti earned his third pole at Sonoma and his fourth pole of the season. The Scot said his team spent a sombre week working on the race after the recent deaths of Chip Ganassis father, Floyd, and the wife of former Ganassi engineer Andy Brown. "Its obviously been a very tough week," Franchitti said. "Were pretty focused on bringing a good result for the team." While the top two teams will do anything to help their top two drivers, nobody is conceding the IndyCar series title to the two front-runners just yet. Five drivers are within 111 points of Castroneves, including Andretti Autosports Hunter-Reay in third place and Franchitti in fifth. Castroneves said hes feeling fine after spraining his neck and cutting his shin when he crashed a stock car during practice on a street course in his native Brazil two weeks ago. He insists hes in top condition to handle the demanding Sonoma track -- as does defending Sonoma champion Ryan Briscoe, who qualified well back in 22nd place for Panther Racing in his final IndyCar event of the season. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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