Flyers snap 3-game win streak as they're unable to shake off Maple Leafs

Jackie Spiegel, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Nov 1, 2025

Published in Hockey

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PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Flyers did not have their music at work on Saturday night, losing 5-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It snapped their three-game winning streak and five-game heater inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.

With captain Sean Couturier out with an undisclosed injury — he is feeling better, but noted that “We’ll see how it keeps responding over the next 24, 48 hours” — the lines went into the old blender.

Of course, the trio of Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink remained intact. Trevor Zegras shifted back to the middle with Matvei Michkov and Owen Tippett on the wings. Jacob Gaucher was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Friday and played center alongside Rodrigo Ābols and Garnet Hathaway.

Christian Dvorak was moved up to center between Travis Konecny and Nikita Grebenkin, who was a healthy scratch the past two games. This new line gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead 69 seconds into the game.

Konecny dumped the puck in and chased it down into the corner, chipping it back up to Grebenkin. He sent a quick pass up to Dvorak as he crashed the net for the goal past former Flyers goalie Anthony Stolarz. It is Dvorak’s third of the season.

But then it was all Leafs.

Auston Matthews scored his sixth of the season to tie the game at 1 in the first period. Morgan Rielly’s shot attempt in the left face-off circle hit Foerster, sending the forward down to the ice. Rielly got the puck back and walked the line before feeding Matthews for the turn-and-shoot. It looked like Dan Vladař may have been screened on the play.

In the second period, Jake McCabe and Nicholas Robertson gave the Leafs a 3-1 lead. McCabe’s point shot beat Vladař, as Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale was trying to clear Dakota Joshua and his screen from the slot.

Robertson scored on a two-on-two, sending a wrister past the glove of the Flyers’ goalie. The play started after a Travis Sanheim pass attempt to Dvorak was intercepted by Oliver-Ekman Larsson. He tapped it to John Tavares, who, with his back turned, sent a between-the-legs pass to Matthew Knies. The forward skated out with Robertson and dropped the puck to him when they crossed inside the Flyers’ blue line.

Easton Cowan scored his first NHL goal 33 seconds into the third period to extend it to 4-1, chasing Vladař from the crease. The Flyers goalie allowed four goals on 19 shots; entering the night, he was 4-2-0 in six games and had not allowed more than two goals in a single game.

Aleksei Kolosov entered for his first appearance of the season. The Belarusian goalie was called up from the Phantoms on Thursday after Sam Ersson was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. Kolosov stopped all seven shots he saw, including stopping Bobby McMann on a two-on-one short-handed break.

Foerster added a power-play goal on a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a pass from Zegras with 4 minutes, 52 seconds left in regulation and Kolosov pulled for an extra skater. Michkov gained the zone and, like on Thursday, handled pressure inside the blue line, this time from McCabe to hit an open Zegras atop the circles. Cates had a chance atop the crease with 2:10 left on another power play when Brink was hit from behind by Simon Benoit.

Breakaways

Scary moment in the third period when Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev was hit without the puck by Matvei Michkov. The rugged blueliner had his back to Michkov, who bumped him from behind. Tanev, who was skating in his first game after missing time with a concussion, was not moving much and was taken off the ice on a stretcher. ... The Flyers entered the night tied for the third-best penalty kill in the NHL (89.2%). In the first period, they killed off a four-minute Leafs power play when Konecny was called for high-sticking and unsportsmanlike conduct. ... Zegras extended his league-leading point streak (11 points) at home to eight games. He tied Peter Zezel and Peter Forsberg for the franchise record of a point in each of the first eight games at home to start a career in Philly. ... Former Flyers forward Scott Laughton was in Philly but did not play due to a lower-body injury. ... Calle Järnkrok added an empty-net goal with 18 seconds left.

Up next

Reunion weekend continues with Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost and the Calgary Flames at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday.