POSTGAME 5: Toronto Tops Flyers, 5-2

Now winless in their last six games, the Philadelphia Flyers dropped a 5-2 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday evening. After a scoreless first period, Toronto took a 3-1 lead to the locker room at the end of the middle stanza. In the third period, the Leafs added a 5-on-5 and an even strength goal while Philadelphia scored once.

The first period was scoreless. At 1:35 of the second period, Timothy Liljegren (5th goal of the season) pinched in atop the right circle and gave Toronto a 1-0 lead. A multi-effort rebound goal by James van Riemsdyk (21st) tied the score but William Nylander (power play, 32nd) put Toronto ahead again at 13: 39. A neutral zone Flyers turnover and defender Keith Yandle falling down resulted in a goal for Jason Spezza (11th) at 19:35.
A double-deflected goal credited to David Kampf (11th of the season) made it 4-1 midway through the third period. Ronnie Attard (2nd NHL goal) sniped one to narrow the deficit again to two goals but Ilya Mikheyev (18th) restored a three-goal final margin with an empty-net goal.
Martin Jones stopped 24 of 28 shots in a losing cause. Jack Campbell earned the win with 36 stops on 38 shots by Philadelphia.
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Maple Leafs went 1-for-5.
TURNING POINT
The Flyers were strong on the penalty kill in the first period but got carved up on the cross-seam pass by Mitch Marner and the resulting Nylander goal that put Toronto ahead, 2-1. In the final 25 seconds of the second period, the Flyers gave up a demoralizing Spezza goal that turned a one-goal deficit into a two-goal gap.
Philadelphia entered this game as the lone NHL team not to collect a single win after trailing by two goals at some point. That streak, unfortunately, continued, and the team is now 0-38-1 in such games.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) Morgan Rielly fired the game's first shot on goal about 1:10 into the game. Jones denied it. Michael Bunting fired off the next shot from above the hash marks. Travis Sanheim blocked a Michael Nylander shot from just inside the top of the left circle out of play at 3:25.
At 5:10, a Leafs 2-on-1 opportunity went awry as a pass intended for Bunting missed the mark. Jones from the puck at 5:32. After the Leafs' Jason Spezza won the ensuing faceoff cleanly against Morgan Frost, Wayne Simmonds had a look at the net in close but was unable to finish it. Six of the game's first eight shots belonged to Toronto.
The Leafs' No. 1 ranked power play went to work at 6;37 as Keith Yandle hooked down PIerre Engvall near the net. The Flyers killed it off in good shape, buoyed by zone clears made by Ivan Provorov and Sanheim. Toronto did not record a shot on goal.
At 10:09, the Flyers got their fourth shot on net; another routine one. Off a faceoff win by Kevin Hayes against John Tavares, Provorov snapped an unscreened shot from the left point on goal.
After a failed entry attempt by the Flyers' fourth line, Zack MacEwen took a hooking penalty on the defensive half boards at 13:01. The Flyers broke up two entry attempts and then Scott Laughton cleared a puck down the ice following an errant Toronto pass. A fourth entry attempt failed, and the penalty expired.
As play moved back to five-on-five David Kampf took a needless holding penalty at 15:05. The Flyers went to their first power play. Colin Blackwell won the first faceoff and then had a shorthanded chance after Joel Farabee fumbled the puck at the blueline. Fortunately, Sanheim was back to defend. With the second unit out, Frost set up a chance for Owen Tippett.Shortly thereafter, Frost fired a puck through a James van Riemsdyk screen but Campbell made the stop.
At 17:47, Thompson had a backhand chance on a loose puck in the slot. Campbell came up with the save. With 1:07 left, Frost led a rush up ice and fed Sanheim for a right circle shot. On the next shift, Ilya Mikheyev tested Jones a bit from the left dot but the goalie had the angle covered.
2) After withstanding Toronto's early push, the Flyers played well for the remainder of the first period. Philly drew some momentum from their two penalty kills and their bottom-ranked power play actually generated better looks on their lone opportunity than Toronto did on their two power plays. Shots on goal ended up 15-12 in Philly's favor (attempts were 19-15 Toronto). Scoring chances were 7-3 Leafs but high-danger chances were dead even at 2-2.
3) Frost sent a bouncer on net at 0:49 of the second period, enabling the Hayes line to start with an offensive zone faceoff. Hayes won the enguing right circle draw and Kevin Connauton fired a shot through traffic on net.
On the next shift, an off-speed shot and a miscue by Kerfoot resulted in a scramble near the Toronto net. At the other end of the ice, a centering pass that bounced off Noah Cates and a blown coverage up high enabled Timothy Liljegren to walk in, claim a pass and fire it from just outside and above the hash marks past Jones. Kerfoot and William Nylander collected the assists as the Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead at 1:35.
A 2-on-1 for the Flyers was read by Campbell as Hayes passed to Travis Konecny. The resulting pad save was fairly routine on Konecny's shot low to the short side. At 3:04, a forecheck by Scott Laughton's line and a Toronto turnover resulted in a scoring opportunity for Bobby Brink below the left circle. At 5:24, Jones denied a Simmonds deflection on net. Shots to that point were 5-3 Flyers.
On the next shift, Sanheim joined the rush and took a pass from Hayes. Campbell reacted quickly with the right pad for a save.
The Flyers got the score evened up at the 8:07 mark. Farabee, skating on the Laughton line, entered the attack zone. The play seemed to be fizzling out but Lyubushkin turned it over to Travis Konecny. A Keith Yandle shot fired through a Farabee screen produced a rebound and three efforts in front by van Riemsdyk paid off as the puck was eventually chipped in the net.

Toronto made a push after the Flyers goal. The Hayes line got hemmed in the defensive zone -- including an icing -- for more than two minutes but Jones and company withstood the pressure.
Oskar Lindblom, skating on the Frost line, generated a shot off the rush as Owen Tippett made a nice play upon entry.
The Maple Leafs went to their third power play of the game at 12:49 of the middle stanza. Provorov was called for holding Simmonds in the defensive zone as Provorov was falling down. This time, the Leafs got -- and kept -- possession and cashed in. Marner made a cross-seam pass from the right half boards to Nylander inside the left dot. Nylander's shot beat Jones over the glove at the 13:39 mark. The secondary assist went to Tavares. The goal was scored on Toronto's first power play shot on goal.
The Flyers got their second power play of the game at 15:39 as Abbruzeze got tangled with Sanheim on a puck race into the left corner and was called for a marginal tripping penalty. Thirteen seconds into the power play, Hayes was called for an even more marginal hooking penalty. At 4-on-4, a three-way passing sequence produced a Provorov shot from the bottom of the left circle. With one second of 4-on-4 time left, Zamula was called for icing (two seconds into the abbreviated, 13-second Toronto power play as the whistle blew).
Mikheyev iced the pick at 18:43, forcing tired Toronto players to stay on the ice. Frost won the ensuing faceoff but the Flyers were unable to do anything with it.
After a Flyers neutral zone turnover, Toronto attacked with short ice. Defending one-on-one with Simmonds, Yandle tumbled to the ice and Cates had to deal with two attackers. A tic-tac-toe goal ensued with 25 seconds remaining in the middle stanza: Simmonds to Giordano to goal-scorer Spezza near the right post. Jones had little chance.
4) The second period was not as poorly played by the Flyers as the last two games against Buffalo but the outcome was similar as 0-0 and 1-1 ties ended up being a two-goal deficit entering the third period. Second period shots on goal were 14-8 in the Flyers' favor (attempts were 16-15 Flyers). Scoring chances were 11-6 Leafs (but another even period in terms of high-danger chances, at 4-4). Toronto, however, is a very opportunistic offensive team, capitalizing on their chances while chances such as the Hayes-Konency 2-on-1 did not result in goals. Giving up a goal in the final half-minute was a potential dagger.
5) Kevin Connauton hobbled off the ice early in the second period with an apparent left knee injury.
At 2:18, Sanheim was called for cross-checking Blackwell. TheLeafs generated an early scramble with the puck rattling around near the net. Jones came out of his net for another save.
The Flyers went back to the power play on a cross-checking penalty on Brodie at 5:25. Farabee generated a clean entry, and after a cross-seam pass from Konecny, Hayes snapped a shot on net. The second unit generated heavy pressure with JVR causing havoc in front. A subsequent Laughton turnover resulted in a scary-looking shorthanded counter for Engvall. The Flyers dropped to eight goals in their last 100 power plays
The Maple Leafs made it 4-1 at 10:11 on a double-deflection goal off of two pairs of skates. The Flyers elected not to challenge for potential goalie interference by Nylander. The goal was initially credited to Kampf but then changed to Nylander from Kampf and Lyubushkin. Subsequently, goal credit went back to Kampf again with assists by Lyubushkin and Mikheyev as the officials ruled the second deflection was off Provorov's skate.
With 8:31 remaining, Toronto came within a whisker of scoring off the rush. Bunting thought it went in but the puck somehow eluded crossing the goal line.
A hard-working shift by Frost's line produced pressure but no goal. Frost shot over the net from the low slot.
Hayed turned over a puck in dangerous territory up high in the Toronto zone but then stole the back at the other end on the back check. With the Flyers on the attack again, a blocked shot was claimed by a pinching Attard. The young defenseman unleashed a perfect shot from just inside the right half boards, finding a small opening over Campbell's left shoulder on the short side directly under the crossbar at 17:26.

The Flyers pulled Jones for an extra attacker. A lost puck battle on the walls, a breakout for Toronto and an empty net tap-in for Mikheyev made it a three-goal game in Toronto's favor. Engvall and Brodie received assists at 18:27.
Zack MacEwen and Lyubushkin had a grappling match at 18:56. Both players received fighting majors.
As the teams played out the string in the final minute, Attard and Tippett had shot opportunities.
Third period shots were 9-9.
Tuesday's game aired on
NBC Sports Philadelphia.