Flyers recover for shootout victory against Maple Leafs

TORONTO -- The Philadelphia Flyers blew a two-goal lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs but recovered for their third straight win, 3-2 in the shootout at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

"It was a good game. We had a good battle with a tough team playing them here in Toronto," said Philadelphia goalie Brian Elliott, who made 38 saves. "They came back on us, but we stuck to our guns and found a way to win. We came out strong with a two]*
Toronto forward Mitchell Marner left the game at 1:57 of the second period with an ankle injury. Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said Marner will not travel for their game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
"I don't know the extent of this, whether it's a few days or weeks or whatever," Babcock said. "There's no sense dwelling on the negative. Someone else gets an opportunity, so let's go."

William Nylander had a goal and an assist, Auston Matthews had two assists, and Frederik Andersen made 30 saves for Toronto (9-5-4), which had its season-high three-game winning streak end.
"I think we just tried to stick with it and claw our way back," Matthews said. "We were able to do that. We were able to get to overtime, but obviously you want that extra point, especially with how hard we worked to get back."
Sean Couturier scored the deciding goal in the third round of the shootout. Nylander extended the tiebreaker with a goal in the top of the third round after Philadelphia's Claude Giroux scored in the second.
"I wanted to make that last save to end it right away, but Couturier came through in the clutch like he does so many times for us," Elliott said.

Couturier gave the Flyers a 3-2 win with an overtime goal against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and scored the deciding goal in a 4-3 shootout victory against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 1.
"I think (we're feeling pretty good)," Couturier said. "It's always fun when you're in the right side of the column, but at the same time, there's a lot of work to do. It's a long season, and we have to keep building, making sure we play the right way."
Myers gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 8:08 of the first period when he took a deflected pass from James van Riemsdyk in the high slot and shot past Andersen's blocker.
Lindblom made it 2-0 at 18:28 with a sharp-angled redirection from the right of the net off a pass from Travis Konecny on the power play.

"I've tried that a couple of times in practice, and I did in the last game, but it didn't work," Lindblom said. "I tried it again today, and it worked. It was a lucky bounce, but it went in. He knows where I want it, we'd been practicing that earlier in the week."
Travis Dermott scored his first goal of the season from the slot off a pass from Nylander to get the Maple Leafs within 2-1 at 10:11 of the second period.
"I think that was the very spot I scored my first (NHL) goal, so kind of a nice flashback," said Dermott, who had not scored in 20 games dating to Feb. 2. "Nice pass from Willy. That was awesome. Get the adrenaline going even more than it was. Nice to see the boys get excited like that."
Nylander tied the game 2-2 at 3:58 of the third when scored from the top of the goal crease off a pass from Matthews from behind the net.
"The score doesn't matter when you're out there," Elliott said. "If it's a tie game, it's a tie game, one shot wins it, and you just want to stick to your guns. I thought we played a good game."

They said it

"He was great. It was awesome to see him get rewarded with a nice win. He battles for us every time, and we always want to give him the best chance to win every time he plays." -- Flyers forward Travis Konecny on goalie Brian Elliott
"I just try to be good with my depth and try to read the play a little bit more and be a little bit deeper. I try to take my eyes back when I have a chance. I think we've been playing well too. We've been playing better and better. I don't think we had the best start tonight, but obviously we got better as we went on and we were able to get a point out of it." -- Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, who is 7-0-3 in his past 10 starts

Need to know

Couturier had his point streak end at five games (three goals, three assists). ... It was Matthews' first multiassist game and seventh multipoint game this season. Seven of his eight assists have come at home. He has two goals and three assists during a three-game point streak.

What's next

Flyers: At the Boston Bruins on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NESN, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, TVAS, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)