Maple Leafs 4, Flyers 3 (OT): Positive loss

Sean Couturier\'s debut as Flyers\' captain started off great but then Auston Matthews\' natural talent resulted in a natural hat trick. But like Rasputin, the Flyer would not go away.

The Basics

First period: 7:42- Travis Sanheim (Scott Laughton, Travis Konecny) (SHG)

Second period: 11:06- Auston Matthews (Mitch Marner), 14:20- Auston Matthews (Mitch Marner, William Nylander) (PPG), 18:55- Auston Matthews (Timothy Liljegren)

Third period: 14:14- Garnet Hathaway (Nick Seeler, Ryan Poehling), 15:15- Travis Konecny (Owen Tippett, Joel Farabee)

Overtime: 0:54- William Nylander (Timothy Liljegren, Mitch Marner)

SOG: 32 (PHI), 28 (TOR)

Some Takeaways

Captain my (day old) captain

A day after becoming the 20th captain in franchise history, Sean Couturier started the game opposite Auston Matthews. The aim? Simply attempting to shut down Toronto\'s big four forwards with smart, defensively sound play. The Flyers followed that blueprint most of the first, whether it was Ryan Poehling hobbling after a blocked shot late in the first or Nick Deslauriers throwing two heavy and decent body checks in the defensive zone. Holding the Leafs to just 9 shots almost halfway through the game wasn\'t Dallas-like domination but for the first half it did the trick.

Strength versus strength

The Leafs\' nearly lethal power play versus the Flyers\' equally lethal penalty kill battled early on. A Sean Walker penalty for putting the puck out of play resulted soon after in a Travis Konecny breakaway. Konecny\'s shot rang off the post. But faster than you can say \"Ridley Greig with an empty net goal\" Scott Laughton hit Travis Sanheim with a nifty pass, beating Ilya Samsonov for his first goal in 26 games.

https://twitter.com/BroadStHockey/status/1758285507375841776?s=20

Weakness versus meh

An early hooking penalty in the second period on Toronto put the Flyers on the power play. But unlike most opportunities that would cause ranting and raving from fans, the first power play was actually fun to watch. Crisper passing, quality shots and a sense of urgency made it one of more enjoyable failures in recent games. One almost could hum the Harlem Globetrotters\' anthem \"Sweet Georgia Brown\" while watching it.

Oh Auston, behave please

An Auston Matthews blast midway through the second tied the game and Matthews drew another penalty a few moments later. Konecny\'s second stellar short-handed chance of the night went wide before Matthews and company returned up ice with Matthews\' one-timer stopped only by the twine behind Ersson\'s glove side. And as if written in a script, the sniper struck again with a fine wrister Ersson seemed powerless to stop. A natural hat trick in less than 10 minutes

https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1758305063531913506

Early night for York

While trying to mount a comeback the Flyers might have been delivered a big blow when Cam York was cleanly pasted by Simon Benoit in the Leafs\' zone. Deslauriers fought Benoit briefly as York, perhaps the most consistent blueliner, headed to the locker room. He would not return.

Sort of-ish comeback

Never ones to stop plugging away, the Flyers cut the deficit in half thanks to Garnet Hathaway. While it still seemed like the Leafs were in control most of the third, a Leafs penalty ended with Konecny finally putting home one of his several quality chances on this night.

https://twitter.com/BroadStHockey/status/1758318578758037899

After getting a surprising regulation point despite what Matthews did, the Leafs won in overtime with Nylander leaving the fans at Scotiabank Arena happy and the Flyers with points in six straight games.

Talking Points