Philadelphia rookie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 shots, including breakaways by David Booth and Mike Santorelli. The Flyers have 81 points, seven more than Tampa Bay.
Rostislav Olesz and Booth scored for the Panthers, who had won six of eight (6-1-1) at home against Philadelphia.
The Panthers, who beat San Jose 3-2 on Sunday, haven't won consecutive games since a three-game streak from Jan. 11-15 Tomas Vokoun, who was 3-0 with a 1.67 goals against average in his previous three starts against Philadelphia, made 31 saves.
Richards opened the scoring 8:36 in when he took a pass from newly acquired Kris Versteeg and fired a quick wrist shot from the right faceoff dot. Versteeg, obtained this week in a trade with Toronto, recorded his first point with the Flyers.
Nodl made it 2-0 at 9:41 when he skated behind Vokoun and tipped in Briere's pass from inside the right circle.
After Van Riemsdyk made it 3-0 at 5:50 of the second with a backhand rebound into an open net, a potential Florida goal was denied after a video review.
A rebound attempt by Marty Reasoner appeared to be a goal before the puck was kicked out by Nodl, but video replay showed that it didn't completely cross the line.
Olesz spoiled Bobrovsky's shutout bid with a power-play goal at 1:40 of the third period. Olesz tipped Jason Garrison's wrist shot from the point and put in his own rebound with a backhand.
Booth closed the gap to one goal when he picked off a pass just inside the Flyers blue line, skated in and fired a wrist shot over Bobrovsky's left shoulder.
Notes: Panthers F Cory Stillman played in his 1,000th NHL game. He became the 262nd player to reach that milestone. Stillman also played his 600th and 900th career games against the Flyers. ... F Scott Hartnell played in his 300th game with Philadelphia uniform. ... The Flyers are the only team in the NHL without a shutout this season. ... The Flyers improved to 21-1 when leading after the first period. ... Florida RW Steve Bernier missed the game after developing flulike symptoms after he took part in the morning skate. ... Vokoun passed Don Beaupre, who played 17 seasons with four teams, to move into 18th place on the NHL's career saves list.
