Flyers fall, 5-2, to the Toronto Maple Leafs, extending losing streak to six games

TORONTO — There are only three certainties in life: death, taxes, and poor second-period performances from the 2021-22 Flyers.

On Tuesday night against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, the Flyers gave up three goals in the second period alone, paving the way to a 5-2 Leafs victory. The Flyers, who have now lost their last six games, have been outscored 99-68 by opponents in second periods this season.

The Flyers nearly escaped the middle period with a one-goal deficit. However the Leafs struck with less than 30 seconds remaining. A neutral-zone turnover from Owen Tippett and Noah Cates led to a scoring chance the other way off the transition rush for the Leafs. After defenseman Keith Yandle fell on the left edge of the right dot, former Flyer and Leafs winger Wayne Simmonds initiated a passing sequence that ended in a Jason Spezza goal.

“We’ve got to make sure we do a better job to get those pucks in deep,” interim coach Mike Yeo said. “Obviously, a turnover there towards the end of the period that made it a 3-1 lead, that was a big goal. That’s a good opportunity for those young guys to learn from a situation like that.”

In an attempt at a late comeback, defenseman Ronnie Attard scored his second NHL goal with less than three minutes remaining in the third period to cut the Flyers’ deficit to two. However, their push was not enough to surmount the Leafs’ lead on an empty-net insurance goal.

Not only did the Flyers lose the game, but they also lost one of their second-pairing defensemen. Kevin Connauton left the game with an apparent injury in the third period and did not return. The Flyers’ defensive corps is already thin, with Cam York, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Seeler, and Ryan Ellis out with injury.

Going into Tuesday night’s game, the Leafs boasted the league’s top-ranked power play, capitalizing on 27.8% of their chances. However, star forward Auston Matthews, a fixture on the Leafs’ man advantage, was not a part of the unit on Tuesday as he was out with an undisclosed injury. Regardless, the Flyers’ 27th-ranked penalty kill would have its work cut out.

While the Leafs were the better team at five-on-five in the scoreless first period, the Flyers slowed them down on the power play. The Flyers put the Leafs on the man advantage twice, holding them without a shot in those four minutes. Even more impressive for the Flyers, their penalty kill managed three shorthanded shots on goal in the opening period. However, the Leafs struck on the power play in the second when winger William Nylander scored. For the game, the Leafs were 1-for-5 on the man advantage.

“We’ve got to do a little bit better job of making sure that we’re not putting ourselves in a tough position like that,” Yeo said of the Leafs’ five power-play opportunities.

Although the Flyers had the edge in shots, 15-12, over the Leafs by the end of the first period, the Leafs had better shot quality and forced goalie Martin Jones to make difficult saves. Through the first 20 minutes, the Leafs had .70 expected goals (a measure of shot quality) to the Flyers’ .50, according to Natural Stat Trick.

One of Jones’ more impressive saves came just over five minutes into the first period when Simmonds put a backhander on Jones, who robbed Simmonds with his right pad. However, the Leafs started capitalizing on their chances in the second period. Jones was beat over his glove side twice, first by defenseman Timothy Liljegren and then by Nylander on the power play. In the third period, Jones let in a fourth Leafs goal that took multiple bounces before sliding over the goal line. In total, Jones made 24 saves on 28 shots.

“They’re a talented team and they finished on some plays,” Jones said. “But overall, I thought the effort was pretty good. It’s just some bad breakdowns led to goals and that was the difference tonight.”

Dating back to March 1, winger James van Riemsdyk leads the Flyers with nine goals in 24 games. On Tuesday night, he found the back of the net again, this time against his former team. He registered the Flyers’ first goal when he cleaned up a rebound in front of Leafs goalie Jack Campbell off an initial shot from Yandle.

Now, van Riemsdyk is just two tallies away from tying the team leader, winger Cam Atkinson, in goals this season. Van Riemsdyk finished the game with a goal, four shots, and 14 minutes, 54 seconds of ice time on the second line alongside center Scott Laughton and right winger Bobby Brink and on the power play.

“I was trying to get open for TK [Travis Konecny], and I saw he bypassed, and then I was just trying to get to the front of the net,” van Riemsdyk said of the play leading up to his goal. “So I didn’t really see Yands shoot it, but he obviously did a good job and shot it at kind of a good height to get a rebound, and I got a few whacks at it, I think. I was fortunate enough for it to go in.”

The Flyers continue their Canadian road trip on Thursday when they head to the Bell Centre to take on the Montréal Canadiens at 7 p.m.