Flyers defense folds as Toronto scores four straight in 6-3 win

TORONTO - In a tribute to Eric Lindros and his upcoming Hockey Hall of Fame induction, the Flyers wore No. 88 during pregame warm-ups Friday night at the Air Canada Centre.

Then, after Lindros met the players in the locker room and read them the starting lineup, they imitated the high-scoring player who dominated the 1990s, producing two goals in the first 4 minutes, 25 seconds.

It didn't matter.

The Flyers defense folded in the final period as Toronto scored four unanswered goals and rallied for a 6-3 victory.

"We just have to tighten it up," said rookie left winger Travis Konecny, who scored a highlight-film goal early in the game to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. "Like we talked about in the room, you can't win a game in the NHL in 40 minutes."

It was the third straight loss for the Flyers (6-7-2), who took a 3-2 lead into the third period and collapsed against a young Toronto team (6-5-3) that had been routed by visiting Los Angeles, 7-0, in its previous game.

"We turned a pretty good two-period effort into a poor outcome," coach Dave Hakstol said.

The Flyers will host Minnesota on Saturday night, their fifth set of back-to-back games in the season's first four weeks.

"We have to turn the page real quick," Hakstol said. "You clear the mind and make sure you come back very determined and play the full 60 minutes. The consistency has to be better."

After a bad sequence by the Flyers defense, Zach Hyman scored on a rebound as he was falling to the ice, putting Toronto ahead, 4-3, with 11 minutes, 26 seconds left in regulation.

A little more than two minutes later, Leo Komarov scored on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 5-3, putting a backhander off Steve Mason and into the net. He became the fourth Toronto player to score his first goal of the season Friday.

Rookie Mitch Marner added a power-play goal with 3:43 to go.

Mason allowed six goals on 23 shots. The Leafs had four third-period goals on nine shots.

The Flyers failed to clear bodies in front of Mason, and the goalie was far from sharp.

"We weren't very good around our blue paint tonight," Hakstol said. "We didn't give Mase a whole lot of easy saves, especially in the third period, when we gave up some second and third opportunities."

Mason said he "just wasn't good enough. I don't know how many times I can say it."

Toronto had tied the score at 3-3 when defenseman Martin Marincin blasted a point drive past a screened Mason with 15:57 left in the third period. Marincin, who notched his first goal in 22 games, uncorked his shot after a slick drop pass from Morgan Rielly (four points).

The Flyers wasted a pair of goals from Wayne Simmonds, one on a power play, the other shorthanded.

Just 2:53 into the second period, Simmonds scored on a breakaway, taking a pass off the boards from Sean Couturier and whipping a shot between the legs of goalie Frederik Andersen to put the Flyers ahead, 3-2.

The Flyers took that lead - and a 27-14 shots domination - into the final 20 minutes.

"We played a crap third period," Simmonds said. "... We didn't execute anything we talked about."

Earlier, Simmonds (power-play deflection) and Konecny scored 26 seconds apart to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead.

Konecny took a pass from Radko Gudas, used a burst of speed and some muscle to get around defenseman Connor Carrick, and beat Andersen on a backhander with 15:35 remaining in the opening period.

But Toronto tallied the equalizer while on a five-on-three as Rielly scored from the high slot with 52 seconds to go in the first.

Hakstol made some lineup changes. Left winger Michael Raffl and defenseman Brandon Manning were healthy scratches; they were replaced by Nick Cousins, who moved to center, and Nick Schultz, respectively.

Schultz was paired with Shayne Gostisbehere (minus-2), who has struggled on the defensive end. Michael Del Zotto, who had been Gostisbehere's partner, was paired with Gudas.

The changes didn't work, and the Flyers have now allowed a league-high 57 goals.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

@BroadStBull www.philly.com/flyersblog