Flyers Fall to Maple Leafs, 5-2
The Philadelphia Flyers dropped a 5-2 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. John Taveres notched a hat trick and an assist for the Maple Leafs, while Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist and Mitchell Marner chipped in a pair of helpers.
Philadelphia has dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Flyers (5-3-2) settled for one point in a 1-0 overtime loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday before sustaining the regulation loss in Toronto. The Flyers have allowed a combined 80 shots on goal over the last two games, while mustering just 43 of their own.
In Toronto, the Flyers scored the game's first goal for just the second time in the opening 10 games of the season. Even so, Philly trailed 2-1 at the end of the first and second periods. Toronto pulled away in the third with three goals to one for the Flyers. Ultimately, the Flyers' habitual tendency to get heavily outshot and outchanced manifested in a three-goal loss.
Joel Farabee (3rd goal of the season) got the Flyers on the board first in the opening period on a shot he hammered off the post and in the net from the top of the left circle. Toronto struck back for tallies by Auston Matthews (PPG, 4th) and John Tavares (5th) to take a 2-1 edge to intermission. The second period was scoreless.
In the third period, a Zach Aston-Reese tally (1st) was answered by an Owen TIppett short-side goal from the left circle (PPG, 2nd). However, the Flyers had no reply to back-to-back goals by Tavares (5-on-5 and PPG, 6th and 7th).
Felix Sandström dropped to 0-3-0 on the season. He was peppered with 44 shots, stopping 39. Ilya Samsonov saved 22 of 24 Flyers' shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-6 on the power play. Toronto went 2-for-4.
Morgan Frost and Justin Braun were healthy scratches in this game in favor of Tanner Laczynski (10:41 TOI, one shot attempt, one hit, 2-for-6 on faceoffs) and Egor Zamula (17:08 TOI, two hits, two takeaways, one block).
For an in-depth recap, period-by-period analysis, highlights and stats from the game, see the Postgame 5 on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
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Keith Allen Among 2022 Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Inductees
Legendary Flyers general manager and inaugural coach Keith Allen will be posthumously inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday evening among the 17 members of the Hall's 17 new members. The induction ceremony will take place at the Live! Casino and Hotel near the sports complex in South Philadelphia.
A member of both the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Flyers Hall of Fame, Mr. Allen passed away on Feb. 4, 2014.
Allen was the primary architect of the Flyers teams that won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1974 and 1975 and also reached the Cup Final in 1976 amid a run of six straight seasons of advancing at least as far as the Cup semis. He also built the 1979-80 team that returned to the Cup Final after compiling a North American pro sports record 35-game unbeaten streak. As his GM career started to wind down, Allen still had a significant hand in assembling the scouting braintrust that built the Keenan's Kids era of Flyers hockey that saw the team reach the Cup Final yet again in 1985 and 1987.
Back in the earliest days of the Flyers' organization, Allen was the Flyers first coach. He piloted the brand-new expansion club to the Western Division championship in 1967-68, highlighted by at least one win in the regular season against each and every one of the "Original Six" clubs. Prior to the start of the first season, Allen was one-third of the group (along with inaugural general manager and fellow Hockey of Fame inductee Bud Poile and player personnel director Marcel Pelletier) who scouted and strategized in preparation for the 1967 Expansion Draft.
After two seasons behind the bench, Allen took over as general manager after Ed Snider fired Poile. While he was a capable coach and had reached the NHL as a player, being a general manager was Allen's true calling in the sport.
A number of players from the Flyers' Broad Street Bullies era will be on hand at the induction ceremony. For more about Keith Allen and his posthumous induction into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, click here.
Allen's induction into the Philly Sports Hall caught many Flyers Alumni by surprise; not because he wasn't eminently worthy but because they assumed that Allen had long since been inducted alongside the likes of previous inductees Fred Shero and Ed Snider. Within hockey circles, Allen is regarded as one of the NHL's all-time greatest general managers: a visionary roster-builder, a gifted evaluator of talent and one of the shrewdest traders who ever lived.
Apart from Allen, Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame's Class of 2022 is highlighted by the likes of longtime Philadelphia Phillies' shortstop Jimmy Rollins, the NBA championship winning 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers team, Philadelphia Eagles placekicker David Akers and famed college basketball coaches Phil Martelli of St. Joseph's and the late Rollie Massimino of Villanova.