SUNRISE, Fla. Seahawks #24 Jersey . -- 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. Tony McDaniel Seahawks Jersey . Devane made headlines in the pre-season when he broke Buffalo Sabres forward Corey Tropps jaw in a fight. A full line brawl occurred after the next faceoff, when Sabres enforcer John Scott went after Leafs forward Phil Kessel. Percy Harvin Seahawks Jersey . The major league service time required for arbitration this off-season was 2 years, 122 days, according to calculations by the commissioners office and the players association.NEW YORK -- For a pitcher with little buzz, Dillon Gee has transformed into a top starter. He nearly came away with his first professional shutout Sunday, limiting the Miami Marlins to three singles over eight innings in the New York Mets 4-0 victory. "Im not sure if Dillon is all that sexy of a pitcher," Mets captain David Wright said. "He just goes out there and gets the job done." Gee never topped 90 mph against the Marlins. Still, he didnt allow a runner past second base. "Hes not going to impress you with the radar gun. Hes not going to strike a lot of guys out," Wright said. "But what hes going to do is induce a lot of ground balls, pound the strike zone. And hes going to go out there and know how to pitch." Chris Young hit a two-run homer, and Wright had an RBI double and an outstanding sliding, over-the-shoulder catch of a foul popup with his back to the plate as the Mets took two of three in the series. Pitching a day before his 28th birthday, Gee (2-1) had the longest outing of a Mets pitcher since last August. He struck out six, walked four and threw 110 pitches -- his high since May 30, 2012, against Philadelphia. That was six weeks before season-ending surgery to repair a damaged artery in his right shoulder. He tried to talk Mets manager Terry Collins into letting him get a complete game. Gee has just four in 162 pro starts over eight years. "CG chances dont come along that often. It would have been nice," Gee said. Collins wasnt taking any chances, especially after Gee needed 23 pitches to navigate a 1-2-3 eighth. Coming in, batters were hitting .187 off Gee through the first six innings and .385 from the seventh on. "The one thing I didnt want to have happen is fourth time through the lineup, to have him hang a slider with a 113th pitch and have something go into the seats," Collins said. Gee is 12-6 with a 2.75 ERA since last May 30. Thats the eighth-best ERA in the major leagues, according to STATS, just ahead of Adam Wainwright and Madison Bumgarner. "Probably pretty under the radar, like I think a lot of players in this room," Wright said. "We dont necessarily have a lineup full or a pitching rotation full of household names." Carlos Torres followed with a perfect ninth that finished a thrree-hitter. Seahawks #58 Jersey. The Marlins felt flummoxed by Gee, who is 3-0 in five starts against them "Hes got a good sinker. He uses a cutter, curveball. Hes always got that changeup," Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. Tom Koehler (2-2), who was born in Bronx and grew up in New Rochelle, allowed four runs, five hits and four walks in five innings. New York went ahead in the second when Daniel Murphy walked, Young was hit by a pitch and Lucas Duda looped a ground-rule double down the left-field line that landed about a foot fair and bounced into the seats. Curtis Granderson walked leading off the three-run fifth and came home when Wright doubled to the base of the left-field wall, only his third extra-base hit since an opening day home run. After Murphy grounded out, Young had four straight fouls before sending a hanging slider into the left-field seats on the 11th pitch of his at-bat and the 22nd pitch to him from Koehler on the afternoon. "I kind of saw everything he had, and I think the advantage leans a little more toward my way," Young said. There was some superb glovework: Murphy made a barehand pickup of a three-hopper on the shortstop side of second to throw out Marcell Ozuna in the first; and Wright made the glamorous grab on Casey McGehees fourth-inning foul pop about 70 feet beyond third base. "Its kind of a panic slide because you dont want to go barrelling into that tarp," Wright said. New York completed a 6-4 homestand, leaving its record at 14-11. "Its impossible to beat your chest and kind of walk with a little pep in your step when youre not winning," Wright said. "You start taking care of business at home, you kind of gain that confidence and I think that that kind of shows on the field." NOTES: Mets pitchers are 0 for 41 at the plate this year, the longest hitless streak for any teams pitchers starting a season since at least 1974, according to STATS. The Braves began 2008 and 11 with 0 for 39 slides. ... Murphy has succeeded in 27 consecutive stolen-base attempts, six shy of Kevin McReynolds Mets record. ... New York is 6-0 when Recker starts this season. ... Jon Niese (1-2) starts the Mets series opener on Tuesday at Philadelphia, where Cole Hamels (0-1) makes his first home appearance this season. ' ' '
