The Flyers have been one of the NHL’s best teams over the last two months, but that has hidden the fact that they have struggled mightily against the league’s lightweights.
That trend continued Tuesday night as defenseman Matt Hunwick scored on a point blast with 7.5 seconds left, enabling lowly Toronto to stun the Flyers, 3-2, at the Wells Fargo Center.
Hunwick’s shot may have deflected off a player in front.
The Maple Leafs snapped a five-game losing streak and handed the Flyers their first regulation loss in the last seven games.
The Flyers, who play in Pittsburgh on Thursday, have just one win in nine games (1-6-2) against the league’s worst seven teams this season.
Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere stole the puck in his own end and started a three-on-one break that ended with him firing a left-circle shot through the legs of Toronto goalie James Reimer, tying the score at 2-2 with 7:01 left. For Gostisbehere, who faked a pass to Jake Voracek before shooting, it was his eighth goal (in just 26 games), tops among NHL rookie defensemen.
Flyers goalie Steve Mason stopped Shawn Matthias as he tried to finish a two-on-one with 11:30 left, keeping the Flyers within 2-1.
But after Hunwick’s goal, the Flyers, who used third-period comebacks to register points in their previous three games (2-0-1), ran out of rallies.
Sloppy passing and defensive breakdowns by the Flyers enabled the Leafs to take control in the second period.
With 4:50 left in the second, former Flyer Joffrey Lupul gave Toronto a 2-1 lead by scoring on a rebound while the Leafs had an extra attacker ice because of a delayed penalty. It was Lupul’s 10th goal and first in 12 games.
Just 1:20 earlier, with Mason out of position, P.A. Parenteau appeared to have an open net in front, but defenseman Evgeny Medvedev skated into the play and got his stick on the shot at the last instant, deflecting it wide.
The Leafs also had a second-period goal negated. Coach Dave Hakstol challenged the goal, and replays showed that Brad Boyes was offsides when the play started, erasing Peter Holland’s tally.
So the Flyers were fortunate to face just a 2-1 deficit heading into the third period. Entering the third, they were outshot by a 25-10 margin after Matt Read had given them a 1-0 first-period lead.
The odd opening period _ dominated by the Flyers in the first 11 minutes, and by the Leafs in the final nine _ ended tied at 1.
Mason was slow reacting as he tried to cover up Boyes’ deflection, and defenseman Roman Polak knocked in the rebound that sat under the goalie, knotting the score at 1. It was Polak’s first goal in a little over a year.
The Flyers had taken a 1-0 lead when Read scored a power-play goal after taking a slick feed from Medvedev with 8:54 left in the first.
From just inside the blue line on the left, Medvedev threaded a pass that Read, moving from right to left, captured in stride in the slot before scoring on a backhander. That gave the Flyers the first goal in six of the last seven games.
But after getting 11 of the game’s first 12 shots, the Flyers had numerous defensive breakdowns and surrendered the next 10 shots.
Mason made his best save in the first period when he robbed Parenteau from the slot after a dominating shift in which the Leafs played keep-away from the Flyers in the Toronto offensive end.
The Flyers have carried a lead into the second period just twice in the last 30 games.
Toronto entered the night with a five-game losing streak, during which it had been outscored, 19-5.
“There’s no easy games,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said before the game. “Toronto was playing very well at one point and you can see they’re well-coached and kind of following the system. They’re a fast team and we have to make sure we’re ready and be responsible defensively.” Didn’t happen.