Matthews scores No. 51, Maple Leafs defeat Flyers to move up in Atlantic

Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 51st goal to help the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Matthews made it 3-2 at 7:41 of the third period after Mitchell Marner carried the puck behind the net and found him in the slot for a one-timer.
"I thought halfway through the second we got a little bit more life going and in the third (period) we just took over," Matthews said. "It definitely wasn't a pretty one, especially those first two periods, but just sticking with it, sometimes you have to grind these kinds of games out when the offense isn't clicking on all cylinders."

Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists, and Marner and Michael Bunting each had two assists for the Maple Leafs (44-19-5), who have won four in a row and moved into a tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division.
Jack Campbell made 29 saves in his first start since a 6-4 win against the Seattle Kraken on March 8. He missed the past 10 games with a rib injury.
"I definitely felt like myself and just having fun and competing and playing my game," Campbell said. "There's obviously some details I have to keep clearing up, but I really liked the game from the boys in front of me, and I liked my game, so I just have to keep building from it."
"Just being healthy is huge. Everybody isn't always 100 percent, so it's a part of the game and it's a tough game. It was definitely nice to hit a reset button, work on some details and work hard in the gym. We have a wonderful staff, whether it's the medical team or the strength coaches to get me in good shape. It's just great to be back and competing again with the guys."
Ivan Provorov had two goals and an assist, and Kevin Hayes scored a goal and an assist for the Flyers (21-36-11), who have lost four straight. Carter Hart made 22 saves after missing one game with an undisclosed injury.
"We bent and we broke a little bit in the third period," Philadelphia coach Mike Yeo said. "Obviously, you have to try to make some plays and try to create but you have to make sure you are not feeding their transition and their rush game, and I just think we made more mistakes in the third period than they did. They have a lot of skill and they could capitalize on those."
Philadelphia defenseman Keith Yandle was a healthy scratch, ending his NHL-record consecutive games played streak at 989 games. He last missed a regular-season game on March 22, 2009, as a member of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Hayes gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 3:56 of the second period when he took a cross-crease pass from Provorov at the right post.

Wayne Simmonds tied it 1-1 at 10:23, scoring on a breakaway to end a 32-game goal drought.
"It was nice to obviously chip in and help out the cause," Simmonds said. "Obviously, the most important thing is the two points and yeah, it was good."
"It was a really good feed from TJ [Brodie]. I actually had one right before and I was happy I didn't catch it because I think we would have had too many men on the ice. We gave it another shot, and he goes to me, 'It was the ugliest breakaway move I've ever seen,' and I don't think he's wrong."
Timothy Liljegren made it 2-1 at 11:32 when his point shot banked off the end boards and Hart's skate.
Provorov tied it 2-2 at 14:33, scoring on a one-timer in the slot off a pass from Hayes.
Pierre Engvall extended Toronto's lead to 4-2 at 11:43 of the third period, keeping the puck on a 2-on-1 while shorthanded.
Provorov cut the lead to 4-3 at 12:23 when his point shot went in off the leg of Maple Leafs forward David Kampf, but Rielly made it 5-3 at 13:47 on a rebound.
John Tavares scored for the 6-3 final at 15:49, finishing off the rush from the right circle.

"I mean we definitely beat ourselves there," Hayes said. "They're a great team there, a playoff team, and I thought we played better than them in the first (period). They played better than us in the second, and too many turnovers in the third that resulted in [the puck] in our net. Not enough traffic at their net.
"It starts with myself, a couple bad turnovers and being an older guy on this team, you have to lead the right way and the third period wasn't it."
NOTES: Maple Leafs forward Nicholas Abruzzese played 9:05 in his NHL debut after signing an entry-level contract March 26. Toronto selected Abruzzese in the fourth round (No. 124) of the 2019 NHL Draft. … Matthews scored his 250th NHL goal and extended his personal point streak to 12 games (20 points; 14 goals, six assists). He has scored in five straight. … Rielly extended his point streak to four games (nine points; three goals, six assists). … Marner extended his point streak to nine games (19 points; five goals, 14 assists). … Tavares extended his point streak to five games (seven points; four goals, three assists). … Flyers defenseman Ronnie Attard had one shot on goal, two hits and one blocked shot in 15:53 of ice time in his NHL debut. Attard was selected in the third round (No. 72) in the 2019 draft. … Provorov scored two goals in a game for the first time since Jan. 4, 2018, against the New York Islanders. … Coyotes forward Phil Kessel has the longest games-played streak in the NHL at 968. He passed Jarvis when he played his 965th straight game March 25.