Sixty-one seconds later, with the Flyers on the power play, the Flyers drew even at 3-3. The Flyers once again got the puck to the net and, amid the chaos of a scramble near the net, Travis Konecny (26th goal of the season) picked up the loose change and scored from the slot. The assists went to Owen Tippett and Joel Farabee at 14:14.
In overtime, the Flyers never touched the puck. At the 54-second mark, after Liljegren passed to Nylander in the left circle, Nylander fired home his 27th goal of the season before Ersson could get over for the save. The assists went to Liljegren and Marner.
Ersson stopped 24 of 28 shots in a losing cause. Samsonov earned the win with 29 saves on 32 shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play. The Maple Leafs were 1-for-3 with a shorthanded goal allowed.
Cam York left the game in the third period after receiving a hit behind the Toronto net from Samuel Benoit.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson
27 Noah Cates - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 21 Scott Laughton - (rotation)
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
18 Marc Staal - 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula
33 Samuel Ersson
[40 Cal Petersen]
TURNING POINT
The Flyers stuck to the plan even after Matthews (with help from Marner) took over the game in the second period. A bad line change opened the door for the first Matthews goal and a wave of Toronto momentum. Coincidentally or not, the Flyers started to make a push after killing off an instigation minor incurred by Nicolas Deslauriers in stepping to defend Cam York by fighting Benoit. Later, the true turning point came on the eventual Hathaway goal sequence. In OT, the Flyers had to risk a line change after Toronto controlled the puck for the duration. They never got quite set before Nylander's winning goal.
POSTGAME 5
1) Matthew Knies had a scoring chance in the opening 10 seconds of the game from the doorstep off a backhand saucer pass from Mitch Marner. At the other end, a pinching Waker had an opportunity, and Poehling attempted a follow-up shot.
Shots on goal remained 2-1 Flyers through 5:30. At 5:59, Walker put the puck over the glass from the defensive zone for a delay of game penalty. With 25 second left in the PK, Konecny hit the post on a shorthanded breakaway. Moments later, at the 7:42 mark, Sanheim scored a shorthanded goal for a 1-0 lead.
Through 12:46, shots on goal were 6-4 Flyers. At the 13:59 mark, Deslauriers laid a heavy, clean hit on David Kampf behind the Flyers' net. Konecny stepped out from behind the net at 15:49 and was stopped in the paint.
At 14:41, Staal fired a shot that deflected on net, Poehling attempted a backhand followup. At the other end, Seeler blocked a Knies shot. With 44.6 seconds left in the first period, Mark Giordano blasted a puck from the center point. Poehling painfully blocked it out of play.
After the buzzer, Seeler grappled with Bobby McMann. The players received coincidental roughing minors.
2) First period shots on goal were 10-8 Flyers. Shot attempts were 22-18 Flyers. Scoring chances were 13-4 Flyers. High-danger chances were 7-2 Flyers. Faceoffs were 8-7 Flyers (led Frost's 4-for-5) Both teams blocked seven shots (led by three apiece by Seeler and Toronto's T.J. Brodie).
3) With Seeler and McMann in the box, the second period started with the teams skating at 4-on-4. Frost set up a chance for Tippett from the slot at 1:20. Toronto then controlled the next two shifts. Through 3:17, shots on goal were 3-2 Flyers.
Tippett had a scoring chance directly off a faceoff win by Couturier in the offensive zone. He was tripped by Jake McCabe, creating a Flyers power play at 16:39. On the ensuing man advantage, Konecny redirected a Frost toe drag pass on net, and then missed the net on a second chance opportunity. Thereafter, the Flyers continuously let the puck in the Toronto zone for the duration of the power play. However, Philly had several shot attempts blocked while a couple of others missed the net.
At 8:22, after a slick play by Sanheim, Cates had a Grade A chance from the low slot. Samsonov made the save. Shots on goal lwere 8-1 Flyers. At the 9:06 mark, Drysdale erased a potential Toronto scoring chance with a shot block.
The Flyers iced the puck at 10:19. Hathaway failed on a clearing chance but the Flyers recovered to get the puck to safety. On the next shift, Matthews tied the game at 11:06. At 11:28, Ersson had to step up to make a tough save on Tyler Bertuzzi off a 20-foot wrister from the slot after a feed from William Nylander. As play resumed, the Flyers got hemmed in their own end.
Behind the play, at 12:52, Tipppett took an interference penalty on Matthews..Halfway through the kill, Konency stole the puck and started a 2-on-1 with Laughton. Konecny elected to shoot, missing the net. Toronto resumed heavy pressure in the Flyers' zone. Matthews scored from the circle at 14:20 for a 2-1 Toronto lead.
At 15:40, after taking the puck away from Tippett, Matthews came within a whisker of his third goal. Seeler blocked another shot with 3:20 left in the period. Matthews scored to complete a natural hat trick with 1:05 left in the period after a keep by Toronto that was close to being brought back in offside.
In the final minute of the period, Konecny was denied on the followup of a nice play by Poehling. At the other end, Frost won a defensive zone draw but Drysdale turned the puck over around the wall. No harm resulted.
4) Second period shots on goal were tied at 11-11 (21-19 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 25-23 Toronto (45-43 Flyers overall). Scoring chances were tied at 11-11 (24-15 Flyers overall). High-danger chances were 5-3 Flyers (12-5 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 10-9 Toronto (8-7 Flyers tied at 17-17 overall, still led by Frost at 8-for-11). Through two periods, Cates was credited with seven hits.
5) Knies deflected the puck on net on the first shift of the third period. Through three minutes, shots on goal were 2-1 Leafs.
Deslauriers took exception to a Simon Benoit hit on Cam York and dropped the gloves at 4:24. Benoit lost his balance during the short fight. Deslauriers did not throw any more punches. Deslauriers received an instigation minor (plus an automatic 10-minute misconduct). York went to the locker room. The Maple Leafs went to the power play.
Matthews came close to a fourth goal on the ensuing power play. Later, the Flyers survived two scrambles near the net. At 6:17, Konecny was called for hooking but Giordano got an embellishment penalty to offset the other minor. Third period shots on goal were now 6-1 Toronto.
At 7:55, while falling to the ice, Hathaway fired a shot on net from the mid slot. The Flyers iced the pick at 8:25. Laughton lost the ensuing draw but then gained possession. Philly iced the puck agan at 9:01 and a third time at 9:08 Laughton won the draw and Tippett won a foot race down the ice for a scoring chance. He appeared to be grabbed, but no call resulted. On the next shift, Couturier was blatantly slashed by Bertuzzi but there was not a call. Subsequently, Frost attempted to rush the puck down the middle of ice but had it taken about by Nicholas Robertson. In the Philly zone, Staal blocked Robertson's shot attempt.
The Flyers went back to the power play at 11:53 as Noah Gregor was called for roughing. The Flyers were unable to get much going on the ensuing man advantage, although they had about 1:2-0 of offensive zone possession time. With play back at 5-on-5, Hathaway ended a 20-game goalless drought to cut the deficit to 3-2 at 14:14.
Zamula got tripped by Bertuzzi behind the Flyers' net at 14:39. Philly returned to the power play. Konecny promptly forged a 3-3 tie at 15:15.
With 4:14 left in regulation, Toronto iced the puck. Toronto iced again with 1:53 on the clock. The Matthews line had a dominant late shift. A would-be breakaway for Konecny went offside.
Third period shots on goal were 11-8 Flyers (32-28 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 21-18 Toronto (64-63 Toronto overall). Scoring chances were 13-11 Flyers (37-26 Flyers overall). High-danger chances were 6-4 Toronto (16-10 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 13-8 Flyers (30-25 Flyers overall, led by Laughton at 7-for-11).
In overtime. Matthews won the opening faceoff against Laughton. Philly never gained possession. At 51 seconds, just as Flyers finally got a line change, Nylander ended the game.
