2. Buds start second slowly, but take first lead late in frame on van Riemsdyk's power play marker. The Flyers were aggressive to begin the middle period, outshooting Toronto 8-0 in the first four minutes of the frame. However, the Leafs were the only team to score in the period, with the lone scoring play coming on the Buds' first power play and via the stick of winger James van Riemsdyk, who deflected blueliner Morgan Rielly's shot into Philadelphia's net for his team-leading 15th goal of the year.
Toronto again was notably outshot in the second - by a total of 14-7 - but Frederik Andersen provided his usual top-shelf brand of goaltending to the Leafs' net, and the Buds' man advantage (ranked No. 6 in the league at 21.34 percent) was opportunistic in putting them in the lead entering the third.
3. Leafs' third period begins much like second, Flyers tie it on Leier deflection.Toronto continued to play much of the action in its own end to start the third period, and the Flyers again dominated in the shot department (9-3 in the first six minutes of the frame). And the pressure eventually paid off for the home side at the 5:36 mark, when a shot from centre Travis Konecny was tipped off the stick of winger Taylor Leier and off two other players before going past Andersen and into the Leafs' net.
The Buds have frequently been outshot in recent games - including in each of their three-game win streak - and Andersen can't stop each and every puck that comes his way. It's imperative Toronto's players improve their possession numbers and spend much more time in their opponents' zone, and that's something that wasn't happening in the final two regulation periods Tuesday.
4. Flyers' Couturier caps off strong night with go-ahead goal late in third.The Buds were outshot by a 2:1 ratio again in the third - in this case, by an 18-9 total - and so it wasn't especially surprising to see Philadelphia get the go-ahead goal. They got it with 2:55 left in regulation time via centre Sean Couturier's 15th goal of the year and second point of the game.
The 25-year-old Couturier equalled his career high in goals - tying the mark he set in 82 games of the 2014-15 campaign - and the Leafs found themselves in a hole with only 175 seconds left to play.
5. Philly gets empty-netter to secure win; Leafs turn attention to home-loving Wild.The Leafs pulled Andersen for the extra attacker, but Philadelphia got an empty-net goal from forward Scott Laughton with 15 seconds left, and the Buds wound up in the losing side of the ledger for the first time since a 2-1 defeat by Vancouver on Dec. 2.
Toronto's attention switches to the Minnesota Wild, who they play Thursday in the first of two road games on consecutive nights. The Wild have been two entirely different teams: they've got an 8-3-2 home record, and a 7-8-1 record away from home, so Mike Babcock's team will be challenged to improve their possession numbers and shot totals before they finish out their road swing Friday in Detroit.
