It was another solid outing for the Philadelphia Flyers against a perennial contender but they fell once more as they were downed 3-2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime.
Tyson Foerster opened the scoring very early in the game before Matthew Knies responded less than a minute later. Oliver Ekman-Larsson then took the lead at the end of the first period before Scott Laughton tied things back up midway through the period.
The final frame solved nothing as the game headed to overtime where Morgan Rielly finished off his odd-man rush with Auston Matthews for the win.
Dennis Hildeby made 31 saves for his 3rd win while Ivan Fedotov allowed 3 goals on 25 shots in his first game action in a month.
Looking to get back into the win column, the Flyers finished out their lengthy road trip north of the border in Toronto to face off against the Atlantic Division-leading Maple Leafs.
With Samuel Ersson sidelined with a lower-body injury and Aleksei Kolosov struggling in goal, the Flyers turned back to Ivan Fedotov for the first time since the 5th of December, a game in which the hulking Russian netminder was pulled after just 20 minutes.
The lines remained the same as they were in Vegas after they went through the blender previously, leaving the red-hot Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, and Bobby Brink trio intact.
As for the Maple Leafs, it’s status quo for the regular season juggernauts once again. Under first-year head coach Craig Berube, they had positioned themselves atop the vaunted Atlantic Division with a 25-13-2 record entering the game.
Auston Matthews returned from his second lengthy absence in as many months on Saturday when the Leafs held on to beat the Boston Bruins. Offensively they were paced by Mitch Marner’s 42 assists and 56 points on 40 games, William Nylander’s 23 goals and 43 points, and John Tavares’ 19 goals and 39 points.
Dennis Hildeby drew the start with Joseph Woll having been in between the pipes last game. The 6’7” rookie brought a 2-1-0 record, .875 SV%, and 3.69 GAA into the contest.
FIRST PERIOD
3:24 into the contest, Foerster remained red-hot after notching the game’s opening goal for the Flyers. Garnet Hathaway and Max Pacioretty collided with one another in the Flyers’ zone, which jumpstarted the play before Foerster ripped a hard shot off the rush for his 12th of the season, 3rd over his last 4 games, and 6th over his last 10.
38 seconds later, Matthew Knies tied the game after the Flyers turned it over once and failed to clear the zone on another attempt. Ryan Poehling turned it over before Ivan Fedotov made a key stop, however the rebound alluded the Flyers before the Leafs fired it back towards the net where Knies finished off the broken play. It was the sophomore’s 4th goal in 3+ periods after notching a hat trick on Saturday.
Both goaltenders listed at 6’7” came up huge for their respective clubs with some massive saves to keep the game tied. Fedotov robbed Connor Dewar in tight with a pad save after the Flyers turned it over behind their own net while Hildeby stoned Foerster and Nick Seeler.
With just 68 seconds left in the period, Oliver Ekman-Larsson poked home the loose puck with the goaltender well out of position. Fedotov made the initial save but left out a juicy rebound, he was able to make the following save but flailed out of the blue paint, which allowed the Swedish defenseman to deposit home the loose change.
After a rambunctious first period from Hathaway, the agitator dropped the gloves with defenseman Jake McCabe with 6 ticks remaining. Hathaway was initially called for a 2-minute minor for goaltender interference, which prompted McCabe’s response to drop the gloves. The veteran defenseman fell down awkwardly at the end of the tussle after Hathaway landed on him on the way down.
By the end of it all, McCabe also received a 2-minute minor for roughing, most likely due to the shoves he landed on Hathaway before the gloves were dropped, negating a Leafs power play.
The period came to a close with the Flyers down 2-1 on the scoreboard but up 14-11 on the shot clock.
SECOND PERIOD
3 minutes into the middle frame, Owen Tippett was nailed for a hooking minor, sending the dangerous Leafs power play onto the ice for the first time tonight. Fortunately they survived with some stellar shot blocking from Seeler.
With 11:07 remaining, Knies was sent to the box for a tripping minor, sending the Flyers’ man advantage onto the ice. While they weren’t able to capitalize directly on the power play, Scott Laughton was able to tie the game right after the expiration of the minor after a great feed from Sean Couturier.
They were able to force a turnover on William Nylander before the captain sent a cross-crease pass to Laughton who was making his way towards the blue paint as he got enough of it for his 9th of the season at the 11:08 mark.
With 3:52 remaining, the Flyers went back onto the power play after David Kämpf hooked Matvei Michkov in the Leafs’ zone. The top unit was in the offensive zone for close to 90 seconds but weren’t able to get more than one shot towards the net.
Nevertheless, the Flyers finished out their worst period with a 1-0 advantage as they took a tied game overall into the third and final frame. They also continued off from the first period as they continued to outshoot the Leafs, 24-17.
THIRD PERIOD
Max Domi was called for an elbowing minor with 14:47 remaining in regulation, sending the Flyers power play out for the third time on the night. It was an okay showing but once again with a chance to take back momentum, the Flyers were unable to take advantage.
In an otherwise fast moving period, both teams locked things down defensively with very few chances for either side. Both Hildeby and Fedotov made the necessary stops to force overtime in a game featuring backup netminders.
The Leafs outshot the Flyers 7-6 in the period but the Flyers remained ahead at 30-24 through 60 minutes.
OVERTIME
With 2:36 remaining in overtime, the Maple Leafs jumped on an odd-man rush after a broken offensive play by the Flyers. Auston Matthews brought it into the zone slowly before finding Morgan Rielly who made no mistake with his shot.
UP NEXT
The Flyers and Maple Leafs will rematch on Tuesday in Philadelphia in the second leg of this home-and-home matchup (7:30pm; ESPN+/Hulu).
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