After a short stretch playing better defensively and limiting shots on goal, the Toronto Maple Leafs returned to a more wide-open game that is not conducive to success in the playoffs.
The Leafs scored 11 goals in games against non-playoffs teams this week, but gave up 80 shots and nine goals in a win over Florida and a 5-4 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday.
Connor Brown, Nazem Kadri, Auston Matthews and William Nylander scored for Toronto, but after establishing a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, the Leafs put forth a soft defensive display in the middle frame, allowing 18 shots on goal on starter Frederik Andersen and falling behind as Travis Konecny, Radko Gudas and Sean Couturier scored for Philadelphia.
Toronto bounced back in the third, tying the game as Matthews fired a rebound under the crossbar past rookie Carter Hart. After Ryan Hartman put the Flyers back in the lead, Nylander took advantage of a Shayne Gostisbehere giveaway for his sixth of the season.
After an exciting overtime, the Leafs went scoreless in their first shootout of the season, including an opportunity by John Tavares that slipped off his stick before Couturier scored the winner in the fifth round.
“We played a real good first period and then whatever happened between the first and the second, (the Flyers) decided to really dig in and we got careless with the puck. We had a lot of turnovers in the second period.” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “(Philadelphia is) a team with a ton offensive skill, you know that before you come in here, and if you want to get into a run-and-gun game, it's going to be like it was. We still had lots of opportunity to win the game and in the end, we didn't win the game.”
While it was positive that players who have struggled to score goals (Brown, Kadri and Nylander) broke through, the Leafs once again gave away any advantage with errors in their own zone.
Martin Marincin’s terrible positioning allowed Konecny to score the Flyers opening goal, Ron Hainsey’s inability to clear the front of the net enabled Gudas’ shot from long range to get past Andersen, while ineffective shifts by the Matthews line and the top defensive pairing resulted in a deflection goal by Couturier and Hartman’s go-ahead goal.
The Leafs will be off until Saturday, when they take on the Senators in Kanata, ON. Travis Dermott took part in a full practice on Thursday and will likely make his return vs. Ottawa.
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