The Flyers almost doubled the Leafs in shots and played as well as you could hope them to. But in the end the Leafs eked out a 3-2 win Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The basics
First period: 8:19- Travis Konecny (Sean Couturier, Cam York)
Second period: 1:19- John Tavares (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner) (PPG), 7:14- Travis Konecny (Noah Cates), 7:55- Auston Matthews (Mitch Marner, John Tavares)
Third period: 13:21- Matthew Knies (Morgan Rielly)
SOG: 32 (PHI) – 17 (TOR)
Some takeaways
Middle frame good, not great
The Flyers are one of the worst teams in the second regarding goal differential while Toronto is one of the best. Philadelphia didn’t help themselves much when a Tyson Foerster high stick negated most of a Flyers power play. The power play was short but had a great chance when a Matvei Michkov one-timer was stopped by Leafs goalie Joseph Woll.
Philadelphia however had a brain cramp in the second when the defense let Auston Matthews alone in the slot with plenty of space for a quick shot Fedotov had no chance on. The only saving grace was it wasn’t a power play goal for the Leafs as Foerster’s penalty just expired.
The Flyers had held the Leafs to just 14 shots with seven minutes left in regulation, roughly half of what the high-end talented team are used to getting per game.
Hathaway – Domi II?
Max Domi, much like his father, rarely misses a chance to cheap shot an opponent. Particularly one who was in a fight with a teammate who is now lost for a little while at best. Domi was fined $5000 by the league for his elbow (or elbows) to Hathaway’s head in the third period after defenseman Jake McCabe (who clunked Hathaway in the head while he was on the ice before the fight) left the game woozy. With the home-and-home some might have expected a few scrums Tuesday evening. Then earlier Tuesday Leafs coach Craig Berube announced Ryan Reaves will be put into the lineup replacing Nick Robertson.
Which is why five minutes in Connor Dewar and….Joel Farabee fought? Yep. Farabee didn’t bust his hand open but both connected a few times before they both fell down, congratulating each other in the penalty box.
Dewar vs. Farabee pic.twitter.com/GWLWqvTiwF
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 8, 2025
Fedotov encore
Through the first 10 minutes of the game, Ivan Fedotov was perfect against Toronto, stopping the lone shot he faced in the first half of the opening frame. But that shot was later taken away. Fedotov got some help from his skaters, clearing a few pucks that were in dangerous areas as the Flyers. The Leafs’ first power play also went without a shot with good sticks and pressure up ice on Toronto’s man advantage.
In the second, Fedotov looked like he might have been injured on a delayed Flyers penalty when he crumpled to the ice. But as it turns out he just got snowed by Steven Lorentz which must have got in his eyes. The snow must have still be in his eyes when the Leafs’ John Tavares beat Fedotov easily high on the glove side to tie things up 1-1. And after 40 he had eight shots on him, but no save bigger than a save on Lorentz late in the second with a crucial blocker save.
Poehling redeems
Early in the game Ryan Poehling redeemed himself of sorts with a great defensive play in his own zone, far different than the gaffe resulting in the Leafs’ opening goal Sunday night. Poehling hit the post on what was the Flyers’ first good chance and then made another strong defensive play, atoning for Jamie Drysdale’s miscue up ice through his speed, breaking up a quality opportunity.
The underrated one
Travis Konecny was hailed by Auston Matthews as the league’s most underrated player recently. Well Konecny showed his talents yet again with the opening goal, taking a pass from Sean Couturier for a one-shot that found Reaves’ stick which caused the deflection.
Philadelphia goal!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 8, 2025
Scored by Travis Konecny with 11:41 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Sean Couturier and Cam York.
Philadelphia: 1
Toronto: 0#TORvsPHI #LetsGoFlyers #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/IGs5bfZ2KQ
The Flyers almost had their second of the first period when Matvei Michkov tried to get the puck sitting behind Leafs goalie Woll and inches from the line over. He was unsuccessful.
Konecny was successful again in the second when Noah Cates schooled a Leafs blueliner on a one-on-one battle and fed Konecny who beat Woll between the pads for his second of the night.
Travis Konecny – Philadelphia Flyers (20) pic.twitter.com/5A6RgJULG6
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) January 8, 2025
Strong game from Michkov
He didn’t score through two periods, but there was very little bad to say about Michkov’s game. He was a sensational 15-3 in chances for (83.33 percent), slightly edging linemate Morgan Frost (14-4 for 77.78 percent). Michkov also had five shots in the first two periods, clearly demonstrating he could play against some of the better teams in the league and play quite well. As invisible as he looked on Sunday night, outside of Konecny he was all over the place on this night.
Michkov also delivered the biggest hit of the night on Scott Laughton. Both went for the puck and, not seeing each other until the last moment, both got hit hard. Michkov also got hit after the collision by an inadvertent Leafs player skating by which caused some scrapes to his cheek and made contact to the head.
Oof… big friendly fire collision between Laughton and Michkov… pic.twitter.com/BbDantHTaj
— David Nestico (@davidnestico200) January 8, 2025
Laughton left the ice and headed for the locker room as did Michkov moments after the unfortunate incident. Laughton returned to the ice after only missing a shift or two. Foerster appeared to get more ice time with Michkov gone. Fortunately with just over seven minutes left in the third, camera zoomed in on Michkov who was eager to get back on the ice. Flyers faithful collectively (and gleefully) exhaled at the sight as Laughton was seen kissing Michkov on the helmet on the bench.
And finally
As is becoming a habit this season, Michkov drew a penalty on the Leafs late in the third. Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson then took it upon himself to crosscheck Michkov back down to the ice. No added penalty was called. Add this one to the list of freebies other players in the league is taking on the Mad Russian while officials turn the other cheek. That or try to deafen him with a whistle.
