Maple Leafs rally past Flyers, gain in Atlantic

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs scored five straight goals to rally for a 7-6 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.

The Maple Leafs trailed 5-2 after Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere scored at 13:27 of the second period.
"It was pretty crazy. We showed a lot of resilience, never quit," said Toronto center Auston Matthews, who scored twice in the third period, including the go-ahead goal. "I think everybody in this locker room, we had a mindset that no matter what, we were going to come out and win this game."
WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
Jake Muzzin scored two goals and had an assist for the Maple Leafs (43-23-5), who avoided losing three games in a row in regulation for the first time this season and trail the Boston Bruins by two points for second in the Atlantic Division.
"It's nice to come back and win. Two points is crucial for us," Muzzin said. "We'd like to do it in a different manner, but a win is a win. We showed a lot of character in the room here, not getting frustrated and just sticking with our program."
James van Riemsdyk had a hat trick, and Brian Elliott made 44 saves for the Flyers (34-29-8), who were coming off a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at home Thursday. Philadelphia trails the Carolina Hurricanes by seven points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"Certainly, first and foremost with where we're at in the standings, we don't have any room for error, so it definitely stings in that regard, but we're going to have to move on and be ready to go for Sunday (against the Pittsburgh Penguins) with what's at stake," said van Riemsdyk, who played for Toronto from 2012-18. "It gets to the point where you only have so many bullets left in the chamber. We have to have a pretty good run the rest of the way to put ourselves in a position."
Matthews took a centering pass from William Nylander behind the net and shot between Elliott's pads from the slot at 15:00 of the third period to make it 6-5.
"I fell and just tried to get it to the front of the net," Nylander said. "It was a little bit of a desperation play, but luckily it ended up on Auston's stick."
Matthews put the Maple Leafs up 7-5 with 2:39 left when he put in the rebound of Andreas Johnsson's shot.
Van Riemsdyk completed his second hat trick of the season and the fifth of his NHL career to make it 7-6 at 18:46.

The Flyers went up 1-0 at 12:22 of the first period when Jakub Voracek one-timed a shot after Nolan Patrick won a face-off against Matthews.
Patrick Marleau tied it 1-1 at 17:45 when Nylander's shot went in off him at the top of the crease on the power play.
Marleau played his 777th consecutive game, passing Craig Ramsay for the sixth-longest streak in NHL history.
Matthews scored at 19:03 of the first, but the goal was disallowed after video review showed the net came off its moorings before the puck crossed the goal line.
Van Riemsdyk deflected Radko Gudas' shot in the slot at 1:15 of the second to put the Flyers ahead 2-1. He scored again at 8:26 to make it 3-1 when he jammed in Claude Giroux's pass at the top of the goal crease.
The Maple Leafs cut the lead to 3-2 at 9:27 when Mitchell Marner passed to Zach Hyman for a one-timer.

Gudas scored to make it 4-2 at 12:29 when he shot over goalie Frederik Andersen's blocker.
After Gostisbehere put Philadelphia ahead by three, Muzzin made it 5-3 at 16:08 and scored again at 18:11 when he shot over Elliott's blocker to make it 5-4.
Martin Marincin tied it 5-5 at 2:55 of the third when his shot from the blue line deflected off Flyers defenseman Robert Hagg in the slot. It was Marincin's first NHL goal since Nov. 11, 2016, also against Philadelphia.

Andersen made 23 saves on 29 shots and has allowed at least four goals in three straight starts.
"I'd like to have handled it better, get out of it quicker, but just keep trying to work my way out of it," Andersen said. "Glad to see we could get two points today, and the guys were great at getting pucks to the net."

They said it

"We can't let our foot off the gas. We're up, and they scored five unanswered goals. We weren't mature enough to keep our game where it needed to be and play better with the puck to not give them opportunities to come back. That's what came back to bite us." -- Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas
"It's important, but we have to learn to be ready on time and be playing the entire game so we don't have to sweat like this to the end." -- Maple Leafs forward William Nylander on the come-from-behind win after falling behind for the third consecutive game

Need to know

Van Riemsdyk had a hat trick in a 7-4 win against the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 14. … Flyers forward Ryan Hartman was a late scratch because he was ill. … Marleau's goal was his 550th, passing Ron Francis for 28th in NHL history. … It was the first time the Maple Leafs scored seven goals against the Flyers since a 7-4 win Feb. 13, 1988.

What's next

Flyers: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: At the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, SNO, TVAS2, NHL.TV)