Leafs score early and often
Bertuzzi dominant as Toronto’s three-goal first period spearheads win over Flyers
Winger Tyler Bertuzzi continued to shine in his audition on the first line and goalie Ilya Samsonov continued to make the case he deserves to start in the playoffs as the Maple Leafs took down the Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 on Thursday night.
Auston Matthews and William Nylander broke open a close game, scoring eight seconds apart in the third period as Toronto beat Philadelphia for the eighth straight time.
And while the Leafs continued to ride a hot streak bolstered by players further down the lineup — Matthew Knies, Pontus Holmberg and Timothy Liljegren also scored — the injuries are mounting.
Winger Calle Järnkrok left the game midway through the second period after falling awkwardly into the boards. He had been filling in on the top line for Mitch Marner, who missed his second game with what TSN reported is a high-ankle sprain. Liljegren and goalie Joseph Woll suffered high-ankle sprains earlier this season. Liljegren missed 17 games; Woll missed 35.
Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist, was plus-3, had two shots on goal, and was a force along the boards and in front of the net.
And when the game was close, Samsonov made quite a few spectacular saves and looked calm, cool and collected while doing so. He stopped 26 of 28 shots.
It was Samsonov’s 13th win against three losses since he returned from a conditioning stint in the minors. And he became the fifth Leaf goalie to own a winning streak of seven straight road games, joining Jack Campbell, Frederik Andersen, Johnny Bower and Turk Broda.
A Bertuzzi hunch
Before the game, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe talked about his decision to put Bertuzzi back on the first line. It didn’t work earlier in the season but the idea was always for Bertuzzi to play with Matthews.
“It’s just about continuing to do what he does well and not overthinking it,” Keefe said. “Things that Bertuzzi does really well are the things that players that have success alongside Auston do, which is forecheck, make plays in tight spaces, create turnovers, be good around the net, create more space for Auston.
“He checks a lot of those boxes. Just do those things. The puck comes to you, make a play. You get a chance to score, put it in the net. Those are all the things Bertuzzi has the ability to do.”
It was almost as if Keefe was describing the first goal of the game. Bertuzzi grabbed the puck from under the glove of Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson to keep the play alive. A few passes later, Matthews made a hard pass to the crease, where Bertuzzi had positioned himself in front of two Flyers
defenders for an easy tap-in.
Bertuzzi also had another amazing goal — a baseball-bat style swing to deflect a puck — but it didn’t count because of an earlier hand pass. It wasn’t much of one, with the puck moving an inch or two as Matthews reached for it behind the net.
No matter, the Leafs had two other goals in the first period, one from Holmberg and another from Liljegren, and led 3-0. The Flyers faithful booed their team off the ice.
Flyers rally
The Flyers were without their coach, John Tortorella, who was sitting out the second game of a two-game suspension for failing to leave the bench Saturday when he was ejected.
They have been a surprise under Tortorella, comfortably in a playoff sport much of the year, but they have been trending in the wrong direction of late.
They at least gave their fans something to cheer to start the second period. A change of goalies, for one thing, with Felix Sandstrom replacing Ersson to start the period. And the Flyers’ power play connected, with Owen Tippett scoring just 1:42 into the second frame.
Numbers and notes
■ Morgan Rielly recorded his fourth 40-assist campaign and tied Ian Turnbull and Tomas Kaberle for the second-most by a Maple Leafs defenceman, behind only Borje Salming.
■ The Leafs scored at least three goals in the opening period for the eighth time this season, the most among all teams. Three teams have seven three-goal first periods: Vancouver, Edmonton and Arizona.