Flyers ‘spanked’ by talented Leafs, DeAngelo benched during loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Maple Leafs brought the Flyers back to earth with a thud.
John Tortorella’s club lost to a better and more talented team Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers fell hard, 6-2, at the hands of the Maple Leafs, a defeat that snapped their season-best winning streak at four games.
Travis Konecny and Nicolas Deslauriers scored for the Flyers. Each goal whittled the Flyers’ deficit to one, but Toronto’s ability to finish was as advertised.
The Flyers also went a costly 0 for 4 on the power play and yielded a backbreaking shorthanded goal.
“We self-destruct the s— out of ourselves,” Tortorella said. “You just can’t overcome some of the things we give them for free. And I’m not taking anything away from Toronto. They played a good game. But just too many things for free.”
This was a considerable measuring stick for the Flyers (15-18-7), who had recently gained some steam, albeit against lesser competition.
The Flyers haven’t won five or more games in a row since the 2019-20 season, the last time the club made the playoffs.
On Sunday night, Mitchell Marner burned the Flyers, who gave him too much time and space. The 25-year-old star dished primary assists on the Maple Leafs’ first and third goals. He finished with three helpers.
Calle Jarnkrok (one goal, two assists), John Tavares (one goal, two assists) and Conor Timmins (one goal, one assist) also had multi-point performances for Toronto.
“Our structure defensively, time and space, sticks, they made a lot of plays through us,” Tortorella said. “We weren’t sharp. We weren’t. We haven’t gotten spanked like that in a while — and we deserved it. Not only through self-destruction, but our positioning, just everything about our game defensively, we just weren’t on it.”
The Flyers went 0-3-0 against the Maple Leafs (25-9-7) this season.
• During the 6-2 win Thursday over the Coyotes, Carter Hart had to make only 21 saves, his fewest in a victory this season. It was his first start since Dec. 22 after he recovered from a concussion.
Hart faced a much stiffer test in the Maple Leafs.
The 24-year-old wasn’t sharp, but Toronto’s talent advantage was prevalent. Hart had little to no chance to stop the Maple Leafs’ two first-period goals.
Marner found Jarnkrok on the doorstep to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. Zach Aston-Reese’s 2-0 marker was the result of a tough turnover by Tony DeAngelo.
“I fan on it and it ends up in the back of our net,” DeAngelo said. “Just unacceptable really.”
DeAngelo played only seven-plus minutes. He did not see the ice in the third period.
“I’m not going to discuss it here,” Tortorella said of his decision to bench DeAngelo. “You know I’m not going to discuss it here.”
The 27-year-old defenseman was accountable afterward, admitting “just about everything” was missing in his game.
“No player agrees with getting sat,” DeAngelo said, “but we also aren’t here to question the coach.
“I don’t think I did one thing good in the first period. Just getting rid of the puck a little too quick, not accurate where I want it to go.”
The goal that really hurt the Flyers came 1:17 minutes after Deslauriers drew them within 3-2 during the middle stanza. The Flyers, on a power play, lost a defensive-zone faceoff and Hart allowed a seeing-eye shot to squeeze past him. He has to stop that one.
A little over two minutes later, the Maple Leafs forced a turnover and Tavares fired it home from the circle.
That sent the Flyers into second intermission down 5-2 and in a need of a miracle.
Auston Matthews closed the door completely with a third-period power play goal.
The Flyers couldn’t handle Toronto’s talent.
Hart finished with 29 saves on 35 shots.
Maple Leafs netminder Matt Murray stopped 34 of the Flyers’ 36 shots.
• Konecny has found the back of the net in six straight games. He has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) over that stretch.
Since Dec. 1, the 25-year-old has put up 14 goals in 17 games. Only four NHL players have more goals in that span:
But Konecny was one of just three Flyers to record a point Sunday night. He needed much more help or the Flyers needed to be far better defensively.
“That’s the best thing about hockey is you get right back at it,” Konecny said. “Usually a day later or the day after. Just regroup.”
• The Flyers remembered their iconic founder Ed Snider by wearing Ed Snider Youth Hockey foundation jerseys in warmups.
Snider, who died April 11, 2016, would’ve celebrated his 90th birthday Friday.
• The Flyers are right back at it Monday when they visit Tage Thompson and the Sabres (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Tortorella’s club is 0-6-0 in the second game of back-to-back sets.
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