Philly Sports Today

Playing their second game in as many days, the Flyers not only had to travel to Toronto, but also faced a tough Maple Leafs team that appeared rejuvenated by the arrival of General Manager Brian Burke. Toronto has not been one of the better teams this season, but they gave the Flyers much more than they could handle with an intense, physical style of play that they have not really shown thus far this year.

The Leafs took an early 1-0 lead on a puck that deflected off of Lee Stempniak’s skate. Mike Richards countered shortly thereafter with a goal to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the intermission.

The Flyers caught a bad break early in the second period when Nik Antropov scored an easy power play goal after Martin Biron misplayed the puck directly in front of his net. The luck continued to stay on Toronto’s side as Dominic Moore scored a breakaway goal after receiving a pass from Antropov as he sprung from the penalty box. Richards inched the Flyers closer late in the second period on a shorthanded goal, but the Flyers couldn’t seem to capitalize on several other scoring chances.

Pavel Kubina scored a back-breaking goal on a shot that ricocheted off of the post early in the third to put Toronto ahead 4-2. Vesa Toskala made big save after big save for the Maple Leafs as Toronto held on for a 4-2 win. Toskala finished the game with 28 saves. Biron stopped 23 shots.

The effort was clearly there for the Flyers last night, but they just couldn’t find the net. Hopefully, they’ll have better luck on Tuesday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Flyers have proven that they are too talented to go into an extended slump. In fact, this was Philly’s first regulation loss since November 8th, which coincidentally was when they hosted Tampa. Maybe they’ll get some revenge on Tuesday.

Let’s Go Flyers!