Scott Laughton scores in his return to Philly as Maple Leafs beat Flyers in overtime, 2-1

Jackie Spiegel, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan 8, 2026

Published in Hockey

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PHILADELPHIA — It was another sellout at Xfinity Mobile Arena, the building’s third in a row, and the Flyers welcomed back another former member of the organization in Scott Laughton.

But the emotions and vibes weren’t nearly as high, and in the end, the Flyers lost, 2-1 in overtime, to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Easton Cowan scored the game-winner in overtime off a spin-around pass from John Tavares.

Laughton, playing in his first game as a visitor to Philly in his NHL career, tied the game 1-1 with 5 minutes, 56 seconds left in regulation.

Travis Sanheim shot the puck wide during a Flyers power play, and Laughton scooped up the puck before heading up the ice. He used his ex-teammate, Rasmus Ristolainen, as a screen before executing a pull-and-shoot shot past Dan Vladař.

It was Laughton’s fifth goal with Toronto and second while short-handed. He scored 10 short-handed goals as a member of the Orange and Black.

Travis Konecny did not come out for the third period after suffering an upper-body injury. But the forward and alternate captain had already left his mark in the game — giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead 55 seconds into the second period.

The Flyers broke out of their own end after Sanheim stopped Leafs forward Calle Järnkrok in the Flyers’ end. Konecny scooped up the puck and fed Ristolainen, who dumped the puck in from the neutral zone.

Sanheim had taken off after breaking up the rush and was the first on the puck as it rang around in the Leafs’ zone. He tipped it to Christian Dvorak as he provided puck support along the boards, and the newly extended centerman carried the puck back down to the bottom of the left circle.

Konecny glided through the Leafs’ zone untouched and unnoticed into the left circle. He got the pass from Dvorak and sent the puck past the blocker of Toronto goalie Dennis Hildeby.

The goal was Konecny’s 14th of the year and 212th of his career, moving him past Sean Couturier for 14th in the Flyers’ record book. He is also now tied with Reggie Leach for 15th in points (514).

Philly had its chances to extend the lead but couldn’t find the back of the net. In the third period, they had their best chance when Toronto’s Matthew Knies was called for slashing Denver Barkey, and 1:08 later, Troy Stecher tripped Owen Tippett.

The Flyers had 11 shot attempts, including a Tippett wraparound attempt that popped out with Trevor Zegras thinking the puck crossed the line. It was reviewed but ruled that it was not a goal. They also had several attempts in overtime as the puck bounced around, but they couldn’t get it cleanly on goal.

Breakaways

Forward Bobby Brink and defenseman Jamie Drysdale did not play after getting injured in Tuesday’s win against the Anaheim Ducks, each with an upper-body injury. Matvei Michkov returned to the lineup after missing that game with a lower-body injury. Noah Juulsen took Drysdale’s place in the lineup.

Up next

The Flyers begin a two-game set against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday.