Instant Replay: Maple Leafs 6, Flyers 3

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BOX SCORE

TORONTO — Things seemed to be going the Flyers' way on Friday night after two periods.

They had a 3-2 lead and an advantage in shots on goal.

The trouble is, it turned out, there was a third period.

The Maple Leafs scored four straight goals in the final stanza to take away a 6-3 victory and hand the Flyers their third loss in a row.

The Flyers dropped to 6-7-2, while the Maple Leafs improved to 6-5-3.

The backbreaker in the third was a shorthanded goal for Toronto by Leo Komarov. That made the teams even in shorthanded goals on the night and put the Maple Leafs ahead, 5-3.

One of the two goals scored for the Flyers by Wayne Simmonds was shorthanded and the other on the power play.

Mitch Marner added a power-play goal for Toronto late in the third to finish the scoring.       

After a wild first period that ended 2-2, the game settled down a bit in the second period from a scoring sense.

The Flyers, who gave up the tying goal in the final minute of the first period when they were two men short, answered with the shorthanded goal by Simmonds in the second period to go in front, 3-2.

The Flyers outshot the Maple Leafs 11-7 in the first period and 16-7 in the second. They allowed Nazem Kadri a free pass to the goal 2:54 into the action, giving Toronto the game's first goal.

Less than two minutes later, the Flyers had the lead with two goals, one on a tip-in by Simmonds on a power play and the other by youngster Travis Konecny, who outfought Leafs defenseman Connor Carrick for the puck near the goal and made no mistake on his backhand. 

The Maple Leafs tied the game again early in the third period on a shot from the point by defenseman Martin Marincin.

The penalty killer
Simmonds scored early in the second period on a breakaway when the Flyers were shorthanded.

Two men short
The Flyers were two men short after Sean Couturier took a tripping penalty at 18:16 of the first period and Chris VandeVelde was penalized nine seconds later for delay of game when he sent the puck over the glass. Toronto took advantage when Morgan Rielly tied the game at 19:08.

Reunited
Brayden Schenn returned to the first line where he played left wing with center Claude Giroux and right winger Simmonds. He had played at center on the bottom-two lines in the previous three games.

The tribute
The Flyers' players all wore No. 88 with Lindros on the backs of their sweaters during warmups. It was to honor Eric Lindros, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday (see story). Also being inducted into the Hall will be Pat Quinn, who coached both the Flyers and the Maple Leafs.

Goalie report
Steve Mason made his second straight start after not playing in the previous four games. He made 33 saves on Tuesday in the 3-2 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Coach Dave Hakstol said Friday he is not looking for a No. 1 goalie to emerge and sees Mason and Michal Neuvirth as a goaltending tandem.

Mason did not play well, allowing six goals on 23 shots for the loss. The 28-year-old is 2-5-2 with a 3.56 goals-against average and .874 save percentage.

Scratches
Left winger Michael Raffl (healthy) and defensemen Brandon Manning (healthy) and Andrew MacDonald (injured).

Up next
The Flyers return home to play the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.

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