Postgame 5: Flyers Lose to Leafs, 3-2

In their first home game since December 21, the Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, on Tuesday evening at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers outplayed Toronto for most of the game but came away with nothing to show for it. Travis Konecny scored twice in a losing cause.

The Flyers played a very strong first period. They took a 1-0 lead and 10-2 shot on goal edge to the locker room at intermission. The Flyers also blocked eight Toronto shot attempts. In the meantime, Philly staged a pair of excellent penalty kills.

Matvei Michkov fired a bank shot on net from the bottom of the left circle at 2:54 of the first period. Woll stopped the puck near the goal line. The play was briefly reviewed on reply before the on-ice no goal call was upheld.

Matthew Knies had a semi-breakaway for Toronto. At 4:47, Joel Farabee dropped the gloves with Connor Dewar. A few shifts later, Ryan Poehling hit the post from below the left faceoff dot.

The Flyers grabbed a 1-0 lead at 8:19. Cam York dumped the puck down low from high in the attack zone. Sean Couturier then fed over to Konecny (19th goal of the season) in the right circle. Konecny fired off a shot that found the net with Garnet Hathaway parked in front. The assists went to Couturier and York.

Toronto went to the game's first power play at 11:55 as Jamie Drysdale was called for holding Bobby McMann as the Leafs' forwards attempted to take the puck to the net. Early on the kill, Noah Cates collected a Morgan Rielly turnover and nearly scored on a wraparound. The Flyers killed off the rest of the minor penalty in good shape.

With 5:37 left in the first period, Ivan Fedotov finally saw his first shot on goal. The Philly netminder came up with a good save on a dangerous scoring chance for Max Domi.

At 15:09, Max Pacioretty saved a goal as Michkov nearly poked the puck as it sat near the goal line. Owen TIppett was called for a boarding minor behind the Toronto net at 16:22. On the ensuing kill, Scott Laughton and Cates had a 2-on-1 rush. Later, Hathaway had a shorthanded breakaway but fumbled the puck.

In the middle frame, Toronto struck twice to erase one-goal deficits. One came during a power play. The second came just after a power play. Overall, the Flyers played a fairly even period.

Just 24 seconds into the second period, York was called for a high-sticking minor in the defensive zone. John Tavares (PPG, 20th goal of the season) fired a shot from the left circle to the far side to tie the game at 1:19. The assists went to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.

The Flyers went to their first power play at 5:16 as Marner hooked Poehling. Michkov was denied on a one-timer from the right side. Thirty-eight seconds into the power play, it came to an end as Foerster was called for a high stick on Matthews.

During the 4-on-4, Cates' aggressive forechecking forced a turnover by Conor Timins. Receiving a pass from Cates, Konecny finished it off for his second tally of the game (20th of the season) at 7:14.

The lead lasted just 41 seconds. As Toronto's brief power play turned back into a five-on-five Matthews skated untouched through the middle of the slot and potted (27th goal) a setup feed from Marner for a 2-2 tie at 7:55. The apples went to Marner and Tavares.

Morgan Frost created a power play in the offensive zone at 11:10. David Kampf hooked Frost along the boards. Frost lost the ensuing faceoff and Konecny one-timed a shot that rimmed out. Later, Michkov tried to fire a puck through a Foerster screen.

Second period shots on goal were 9-7 in the Flyers' favor (19-9 through two periods).

Thirteen seconds into the third period, Laughton and Michkov collided in the defensive zone. Laughton went off slowly to undergo observation. Michkov sustained an abrasion on his right cheek. Both players stayed in the game.

Toronto grabbed a 3-2 lead with a goal off a Matthews faceoff win against Cates. Rielly put the puck to the net and Knies (16th) directed it into the net at 13:21. The assists went to Rielly and former Flyers defenseman Phiippel Myers.

The Flyers pulled Fedotov for an extra attacker. Cates and Konecny had chances from the doorstep. With 1:05 left, Tippett was set up by Michkov in great shooting position from the left side and missed the net.

With 47.2 seconds on the clock, Knies hooked down Michkov. The Flyers attacked 6-on-4. Michkov was stopped on a one-timer. Moments later, Konecny was denied. With 11.4 seconds left, Drysdale tripped Matthews. A late shot attempt by Konecny missed the mark.

Fedotov stopped 14 of 17 shots. Woll made 30 saves on 32 shots.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink
74 Owen Tippett - 25 Ryan Poehling - 11 Travis Konecny
21 Scott Laughton - 48 Morgan Frost - 39 Matvei Michkov
86 Joel Farabee - 14 Sean Couturier - 19 Garnet Hathaway

6 Travis Sanheim - 8 Cam York
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

82 Ivan Fedotov

{35 Aleksei Kolosov]

PP1: Ristolainen, Foerster, Cates, Brink, Michkov
PP2: Drysdale,Tippett, Frost, Konecny, Farabee

Scratches:15 Olle Lycksell (healthy), 77 Erik Johnson (healthy), 44 Nicolas Deslauriers (IR), 33 Samuel Ersson (lower body).

TURNING POINT

Lost defensive zone faceoffs have proven costly multiple times for the Flyers in recent weeks. Knies' game winning goal started with the Leafs winning a draw in the Philadelphia zone.

POSTGAME 5 ("5 Things" Revisited)

1. Faceoff circle: On Sunday, Toronto dominated the draws throughout the game. Faceoffs were much more even on this night but the Flyers didn't come up with a couple power play faceoffs -- and the aforementioned D-zone draw -- they needed. Overall, The Flyers won 26 faceoffs and lost 29.

2. Eye on Ristolainen: The big Finn turned in yeoman work once again in the trenches. Overall, he logged 22:17 of ice time across 28 shifts. Ristolainen was credited with one blocked shot and a takeaway but also charged with two giveaways. At the offensive end, he had two shots on goal on five attempts. Ristolainen was denied by Woll on a third period scoring chance.

3. Tippett and Konecny: Konecny came into the game with 20 points in 22 career games against Toronto. On Tuesday, he expanded his total to 22 career points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 23 games. Tippett attempted seven shots, putting two on net (four missed the net, including one from prime range, and one was blocked.

4. Special teams: The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill but allowed a 5-on-5 goal right after a penalty expired.

5. Back-to-back starts for Fedotov: Fedotov came up with some key -- if unorthodox looking -- saves but his stat line for the game ended up looking pedestrian with a low volume of shots on net faced and three that went in.