Leafs survive slow start, eke out win in Philly on Matthew Knies' third-period tip-in

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Here’s a tip: Keep an eye on Matthew Knies.

The Maple Leafs winger scored for the fifth time in three games, deflecting a Morgan Rielly shot in the third period for the winner in a 3-2 Toronto victory in Philadelphia against the Flyers.

Playing in front of their mentors at the Wells Fargo Center, the Leafs recovered after a terrible first period to win their fifth consecutive game. It’s their longest winning streak since they won seven in a row from Feb. 13-24, 2024.
Joseph Woll was excellent again in the Leafs net, making 30 saves. Toronto had just 17 shots on Flyers goalie Ivan Fedotov, tying their season-low for one game.

Captain Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares each had two points for the Leafs, who swept the home-and-home set with the Flyers.

It was the 200th multi-point game of Matthews’ career, coming in his 589th game. Among active players, only Sidney Crosby (465 games), Connor McDavid (466) and Alex Ovechkin (570) reached 200 multi-point games quicker.

William Nylander’s season-high goal drought, meanwhile, is now at eight games.
Tavares also hit a significant milestone in the second period when he scored at 1:17 on a power play, tying the game 1-1.

Tavares’ goal was his 20th, marking his 15th 20-goal season in the National Hockey League. Since 2009-10, only Tavares and Washington star Alex Ovechkin have had 15 seasons in which they have scored at least 20 goals.

Travis Konecny scored his first of two in the game at 7:14, then putting the Flyers ahead by one again when Noah Cates stole the puck from Conor Timmins, who took the lineup spot of an injured Jake McCabe, and fed Konecny. The latter slipped the puck under Woll.

Matthews answered 41 seconds later, taking a pass from Marner to beat Fedotov from the slot. The goal came one second after a Leafs power play ended.

The Leafs were dreadful in every respect in the first period, whether at five-on-five or on a couple of atrocious power plays.

Toronto didn’t register its first shot on goal until 14:22 when Max Domi gave Fedotov a reason for showing up to work.

The Leafs were outshot 10-2 in the opening 20 minutes and were down 1-0.

A shot by Konecny went off the stick of Ryan Reaves, in the lineup after he was scratched for two games, and past Woll at 8:19.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

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