Morgan Rielly scored at the 2:25 mark of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Sunday night.
Rielly scored from the right circle after taking a pass from Auston Matthews to extend Toronto’s winning streak to four games.
Matthew Knies and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored for the Maple Leafs, who were completing a set of back-to-back home games. Matthews added two assists and Dennis Hildeby made 30 saves.
Tyson Foerster and Scott Laughton scored for the Flyers, who finished a 2-3-1 road trip. Ivan Fedotov started in goal for the first time since Dec. 5 and stopped 22 shots.
The teams exchanged goals 38 seconds apart early in the first period.
Philadelphia scored at 3:24 on a two-on-two breakout with Noah Cates feeding Foerster, who scored on a 43-foot shot to Hildeby’s blocker side.
Knies, who had his first career NHL hat trick on Saturday against the Boston Bruins, pounced on a rebound to tie the game. Matthews tipped Chris Tanev’s shot before the puck came to Knies.
Ekman-Larsson poked home a 15-footer during a scramble around the net to give Toronto a 2-1 lead at 18:52.
Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe left for concussion protocol after a fight with Garnet Hathaway at 19:54 of the first. McCabe’s head hit the ice in the tussle. He did not return because of what the team said was an upper-body injury.
Laughton tied the game at 11:08 of the second period when he converted Sean Couturier’s across-the-crease pass after a Toronto turnover.
Toronto missed a chance to take the lead early in the third period when William Nylander fanned on his shot while alone in front of the goal.
The Flyers had two good chances early in the overtime, but Hildeby held his ground. That left it for Rielly to win it.
The teams will play again Tuesday night at Philadelphia, which opens a four-game homestand for the Flyers. It will be the first of two straight on the road for Toronto.
–Field Level Media
