Flyers Fall to Maple Leafs for Second Time in Three Days

I’m getting a strange sense of déjà vu here.

For the second time in three nights, the Flyers have fallen to the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2. The only difference is that this time they didn’t do it in overtime, so they don’t get a point for their effort like they did on Sunday. With the way that they played though, it’s hard to say that they deserved one.

Virtually all the same issues we’ve seen with this team all year were present in this game. Twice the Flyers had a lead, and twice they gave it away, showcasing their inability to maintain control of the game when they’re ahead. A major reason for that was of course, the goaltending, which could not come up with the big saves when needed.

With the goaltending, though, I have a hard time putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of Ivan Fedotov, who got the start for Philly today. This was after all only his second game back after riding the bench for an entire month. Of course, he was only riding the bench because he is the third-best option on a team whose netminding has been streaky at best, but you can’t deny that he is currently shaking off some rust here.

Looking in at the actual game, as previously mentioned the Flyers started out with a lead. Travis Konecny seems to have officially broken out of his mini-slump as he gave Philly the 1-0 advantage a little under halfway through the first period. The score would stay like this throughout the remainder of the period and the Flyers seemed to be playing well.

This quickly changed though when Toronto went on a power play less than 30 seconds into the second period following a Cam York high-sticking. You can’t give a team with so many offensive weapons free passes like that, and they showed exactly why less than a minute later. John Tavares slid one by Fedotov to tie the game up for the Leafs.

Not content with just one goal on the day, Konecny would pot his second shortly after Tavares’ to give the Flyers the lead once again. This also marked the 20th goal of the season for Konecny, who has hit this mark six out of the eight seasons he has played in the NHL excluding the Covid-shortened 2020 season. He did his best to carry this team on his back tonight, but sadly his efforts would not be enough, valiant as they might have been.

After this point, the Flyers seemed to show no real fight, even with the lead. It took Auston Matthews all of 41 seconds to tie the game back up at 2-2, seemingly sucking the life out of the entire Wells Fargo Center. Matthew Knies would deliver the final dagger in the third period, and even though it was just a one-score game, it never felt like Philly was going to get back into the game. With this game, the Flyers had a chance to return to hockey .500 but now sit at 17-19-5 on the season.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say I’ll say it again, this team needs to learn how to play for 60 minutes. Too many times they show flashes or extended streaks of what makes a good hockey team, but it never lasts long enough for sustained success. I don’t know if the answer lies in coaching, personnel, or something else entirely, but there is a good hockey team buried somewhere in here, we just need someone to break them out.

The Flyers’ next game will come against the Dallas Stars in Philly on Thursday, the 9th, at 7:00 pm EST. The game can be watched on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

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Bo Lynett

Bo has been a fan of Philly sports his whole life and has spent the entirety of his four years at Colgate University working to start a career in sports media. Double majoring in Economics and Film & Media Studies gave him the opportunity to study both the financial/ analytical and broadcasting/ production sides of the sports world. Outside of the classroom, he’s worked as a director and producer for Colgate’s athletic events streamed on ESPN+ and a writer for the Colgate Athletic Website. Through all of this, however, it was his love of Philly sports that drove him to this career.