The Leafs were finally home after an absolutely miserable five-game road trip that saw them post a pathetic record of 1-2-2. They defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-1, lost to the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1, lost to the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in overtime, lost to the LA Kings 4-2, and lost to the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in overtime. It’s safe to say the buds were more than happy to see that road trip end and get back to some home cooking and playing on Scotiabank Arena’s ice again. Tonight, they welcomed the Philadelphia Flyers to town.
The Leafs started this one with a noticeable jump to their game. They managed to pin the Flyers in a couple of shifts in a row but were unable to get the game’s first goal. The top line went to work and managed to draw the first penalty of the game 5:38 into this one as Nick Seeler was called for hooking. Coming into this one, the Leafs power play was ranked 9th overall in the league at 24.3%. Unfortunately, the power play was unsuccessful in their first attempt. They wouldn’t have to wait long to get their second opportunity, as Travis Konecny took an undisciplined roughing penalty, punching TJ Brodie in the face. The Konecny minor came just over two minutes after the Flyers first minor of the game. The second power play was even worse than the first one, as the Leafs couldn’t even get into the Flyers zone to get set up. The Flyers struck first as they opened the scoring off of a one-timer from the top of the circle by Joel Farabee on just their fourth shot of the game. The goal came at the 13:09 mark, and it was Ferabee’s 3rd of the season. Assists went to Travis Konecny and Travis Sandheim. Things went from bad to worse for the blue and white as Victor Mete was called for a cross-checking penalty just seconds after the Flyers took the lead. Fortunately for the blue and white, the Flyers could not add to their lead with the man advantage. The parade to the penalty box continued for the Flyers in this one as Nick Deslauriers was called for tripping at 16:10. This time, the top unit was finally able to strike as Leafs captain John Tavares found Auston Matthews in the slot, who made no mistake scoring his fourth goal of the year. The second assist went to Mitch Marner. The Leafs, more importantly, John Tavares, wasted no time as he went right back to work with William Nylander and Nylander found JT alone at the point, which absolutely ripped home his 5th goal of the season under two minutes after setting up Matthews to tie the game. The period would come to a close, with the Leafs leading by a score of 2-1. Shots on goal after 20 minutes of play were 17-6 in favor of the blue and white. TOI leader was Morgan Rielly, who logged a total of 8:15.
The Leafs came out to start the 2nd period building off of the great opening 20 they had in the 1st period. Most of the opening five minutes were spent with the Flyers pinned in their own zone. Unfortunately for the blue and white, Denis Malgin took an offensive zone cross-checking penalty 4:32 into the period giving the Flyers their second power play of the night. The Leafs managed to kill off the minor, and they went on to control the majority of the play through the first half of the period. Zach Aston-Reese was robbed of his first goal as a Leaf when Engvall found Aston-Reese alone in front on a two-on-one, but Reese nailed the post. The Leafs would give the Flyers yet another power play as Michael Bunting failed to clear the puck along the boards, which forced Mark Giordano to take a holding penalty at 9:36. The Flyers only managed to generate just one shot on goal with the man advantage. It was a great scoring chance, but Ilya Samsonov came up with an unbelievable save to keep it a 2-1 game in favor of the Leafs.
Both teams would continue to trade chances back and forth as the period progressed. The Leafs had a dominant shift in the Flyers zone, and Justin Holl just decided to throw the puck away in the high slot. His attention to detail is just simply not good enough. William Nylander had an extra jump in his step tonight, which was incredibly noticeable in the 2nd period. Unfortunately, with just 4:01 remaining in the frame, Willy took an unnecessary interference penalty. The Leafs do another fantastic job successfully killing off yet another Flyers power play, as they didn’t even surrender a single shot on goal. After Nylander’s fantastic period, it ended with back-to-back penalties from number 88. This time he was called for high sticking in the offensive zone with 1:33 remaining in the period. Once again, the Leafs penalty kill did some fantastic work as the period came to a close with the score 2-1 in favor of the Leafs. The Flyers had 27 seconds of power play time to start the 3rd period. Shots on goal in the middle frame were 13-9 in favor of the Leafs and 30-15 in favor of the blue and white. TOI leader through 40 minutes of play was Morgan Rielly with 15:14.
Just seven seconds later, Ilya Samsonov had to come up with a ten-bell save going post to post. To make the save even sweeter, it was on Tony DeAngelo. The Leafs managed to kill off the remainder of the Flyers power play. Just 2:49 into the 3rd period Zach Aston-Reese got a second grade A scoring chance, and this time he made absolutely no mistake, ripping home his first goal with the blue and white giving them a 3-1 lead! Assists on the goal went to Denis Malgin and David Kampf. With 13:26 remaining in regulation, the Leafs parade to the penalty box continued. This time, team captain John Tavares was called for a holding minor. The Flyers wasted no time capitalizing with the man advantage as Owen Tippett came flying into the Leafs zone and ripped his second goal of the year short side on Samsonov. The lone assist on the goal went to Travis Konecny. John Tavares once again took this team on his back and scored a magnificent goal going inside-outside, deking the jock off of Flyers defenceman Travis Sandheim. He then drove to the net and made absolutely no mistake to make it a 4-2 game and regain the Leafs two goal lead.
With 5:14 remaining, the Flyers started to come unglued a little. The top unit goes to work right away, and who else but Johnny Toronto who caps off the hat trick with a power play marker. Assists on the goal go to Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews. Travis Konecny hit Matthews up high then Matthews goes back at Konecny. Konecny then tried to jump Matthews, and Giordano instantly jumped Konecny. He wasted NO time getting in there to pick up for the Leafs superstar. Giordano then got up and fought Kevin Hayes as well! It was absolute pandemonium at Scotiabank Area in the final moments of this one! The Leafs would come out of that with a power play for the final 1:44 in this one. The Leafs would hang on for a 5-2 win. Take a bow, John Tavares! Shots on goal in the 3rd period were 14-10 in favor of the Leafs and 44-25 overall in favor of the blue and white. TOI leader in this one was TJ Brodie with 21:34.
Tonight’s Three Stars:
- John Tavares: 3 Goals, 1 Assist
- Auston Matthews: 1 Goal, 1 Assist
- Morgan Rielly: 2 Assists
Next up for the blue and white is a back-to-back this weekend. They take on their eternal rivals, the Boston Bruins, at Scotiabank Arena, then head to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes in an afternoon matinee!
For more Leafs news and in-game tweets, follow me on Twitter @mikethefanatic! Also, be sure to check out The Leafs Late Night Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts!
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