Instant reactions: Aleksei Kolosov makes season debut, Dan Vladar allows 4 goals to Maple Leafs

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame

In a night where most of Toronto is watching one of their sports teams attempt to actually win a Game 7, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Philadelphia Flyers, chasing Dan Vladar for the first time this season.

Philly just never really got going offensively tonight, and Toronto’s ability to shoot the puck was really on display. Auston Matthews, Nicholas Robertson and Easton Cowan all scored on absolute seeds. Meanwhile, Trevor Zegras extended his point streak with an assist on Tyson Foerster’s power play goal.

Also, the Leafs being upset with Matvei Michkov for Chris Tanev’s very unfortunate injury is just straight up ridiculous.

The Flyers will get another shot to impress the Xfinity Mobile Arena crowd tomorrow night, when they host the Calgary Flames at 7pm.

First period

“And that line goes RIGHT TO WORK!” Christian Dvorak finishes off a little cycle play from Travis Konecny and former Leaf Nikita Grebenkin to put the Flyers up 1-0 only 69 (nice!) seconds into the game. I said on PHLY Flyers Pregame that I was interested to see that line get in on the forecheck and Grebenkin get a little time in the top-9. Well, that’s a great start for both!

Bobby Brink is fast now. That is all.

The Leafs get their first SOG of the game after 5+ minutes of action. That doesn’t bode well for my Vladar over 22.5 saves prop.

Tyson Foerster goes down after a shot block, and with TyFo prone, the Leafs took over and eventually Auston Matthews rips a puck top shelf over Vladar to tie the game. Already without Sean Couturier, losing Foerster would be a blow to the Flyers, considering the Cates line is expected to get heavy usage against Matthews.

After the Toronto goal, both teams traded dump-ins for a little while, but then Michkov & Zegras combined on a strong forechecking shifts with a lot of second-effort almost chances, but nothing fully came to fruition.

Travis Konecny gets a high-sticking double minor because, I’m guessing, Easton Cowan is blading like Eddie Guerrero out there. Oh no, it’s not a double-minor, the second penalty is an unsportsmanlike after TK was talking a lot of trash after the initial call.

That counts as two kills for the Flyers, who’ve now successfully defended 16 straight power plays.

Foerster has been taking regular shifts mostly since taking a puck to the leg before Matthews’ goal, so that’s good.

A lot of whistles and delays in the last few minutes of the first made the game choppy, and we go to intermission 1-1.

Trevor Zegras went 0/8 on faceoffs in the first period, losing seven to Nicolas Roy. Zegras has been a big boost to Philly’s forward group this season, but you can’t be 0% and expect to stick down the middle. Z wants to play center, but he has to be better in that regard. He came into the game having won 23 faceoffs and lost 28 (45.1%).

Second period

The Flyers came within centimeters of taking a 2-1 lead following a too many men minor on the Leafs, but Zegras’ one-timer attempt got by Stolarz, hit the far post, followed the goalline perfectly, hit the near post and then rolled under Stolie for the stoppage. That was actually far more impressive than just putting the biscuit in the basket, honestly.

What just happened? Toronto takes a 2-1 lead on a floating wrister from Jake McCabe at the point. There was a ton of traffic and Vladar couldn’t find it. Philly really needs to get play going the other way. The Flyers have one shot on goal this period, with 10 minutes to go. This might be controversial analysis, but… that’s pretty bad.

The Leafs have iced the puck roughly 420 times this game.

Bobby Brink gets a shot with about 7:25 left in the middle frame, the Flyers’ second of the period. And hey they’ve drawn a penalty, too! PECOOOOOOO!

The Michkov unit (with Dvorak filling in for Coots) had a few cross-ice chances but couldn’t convert. Zegras’ PP group’s best chance came from a Cam York point shot, but Philadelphia failed to convert. Still 2-1 Leafs with about 4 minutes left in the second.

After the power play the Flyers kept the pressure on for a couple shifts but once Toronto finally got the puck broken out, Matthew Knies hit Nick Robertson with a drop pass and Robertson beat Vladar to put the Leafs up 3-1. Vladar has allowed three goals for the first time this season.

Simon Benoit took a shot SO LATE after the horn, but it hit his own teammate, and that’s just funny. Good.

Third period

Make it 4-1 basically right away. Easton Cowan scores his first after an o-zone faceoff loss and a turnover. Vladar is out now, and here comes Aleksei Kolosov. Brian Boucher is wondering if this is to preserve Vladar for the Flames game tomorrow night.

Philly is getting a power play now, after Jacob Gaucher takes a stick up high. They get nothing. Kolosov made a stop on a 2-on-1 with one second left on the advantage.

Rodrigo Abols scored a goal that the officials decided just won’t count because they say so despite zero video evidence of a high stick. The game remains 4-1.

Unfortunate scene with 11:37 left, with the puck in the neutral zone, Matvei Michkov collided with Chris Tanev and Tanev went down in a heap. He’s being tended to by medical staff, with a stretcher out on the ice. Tanev returned tonight after 10 days in concussion protocol after a hit to the head on October 21st.

Michkov is going to serve a two-minute minor for interference after it was initially called a major for review purposes.

The Leafs are targeting Michkov for accidentally bumping into someone, and really just seem silly for it. In an unrelated incident, Benoit goes to the box and the Flyers convert on a Tyson Foerster goal from Zegras to extend #46’s point streak at home.

After a dangerous boarding on Bobby Brink by Oliver Ekman-Larsson that was way more intentional than anything the Leafs are mad at Michkov about, the Flyers are back on the power play with Kolosov pulled for the extra attacker. They got a few chances to bring the game within a goal, but ultimately Stolarz closed the door.

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame