Within the first five minutes of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, it seemed like things were not going to go their way.
Ilya Samsonov let the first shot he faced get through him and Ryan Reaves got the worse end of a fight with Nicolas Deslauriers that had him returning to the locker room with his left eye closed. Very quickly the Maple Leafs were down a goal and a forward.
The next 55 minutes of the game were only marginally better for them in a 4-3 loss.
Toronto’s offence didn’t wake up until the third period, and it didn’t receive a fantastic outing from Samsonov — who conceded two goals from 48 or more feet out, and another from 33.5 feet. The team got within a single goal with nearly 10 minutes remaining, but sloppy play in the offensive zone from the second power-play unit led to a counterattack that allowed the Flyers to deliver the dagger.
3 Stars:
- Tyler Bertuzzi
- William Nylander
- Connor Dewar