It was a tall task Thursday night as the Leafs looked for a little brotherly love against the Flyers.  Coming up short and losing 4-3 the Leafs battled for 60 minutes but couldn’t top the offensive depth and physical play of the 4^th place Flyers.  Although Bobrovski

looked like he might lose his skates at times the forward core for Philly gave the Leafs defense fits as they cycled the puck outshooting the Leafs and dominating much of the play.

James Reimer got the start in net for the Leafs and he was tested early on a blast from the point but squeezed the pads for the opening save.  Brayden Schenn took a hi-sticking penalty and the Leafs had a man advantage in the first minute.  They tried to break into the offensive zone with speed but chose some low percentage passes in favour of getting the puck down low and Philly completed the kill.  Sergei Bobrovski got the start in net with Ilya Bryzgalov out sick and he looked unsettled early gloving a wrist shot from Mikhai Grabovski off the wing.  Former Pittsburgh game seven hero Max Talbot took an errant high stick from Luke Schenn and it was the Flyers turn on the power play.  Philly had some good quick shots but James Reimer made a couple of saves and got the benefit of a dinger off the post to keep it scoreless.  Young Flyer phenom Claude Giroux nearly made the Leafs pay on a giveaway but the play was whistled down for a hi-stick.  Giroux is second in League scoring with 20 goals and 40 assists and displays some of the highest skill level nightly with true playmakers ability.  Mike Brown threw down with Zac Ronaldo and got the best of it landing a solid right hand.  The fight seemed to spark the buds and the pace picked up as the Leafs got the offense going.  The pressure was short lived and it was the young guns of the Flyers taking control of the puck in the Leafs end and getting some good chances off the cycle.  The Flyers finally broke through on some quick stick work from Scott hartnell and it ended with a fight between he and Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf who was frustrated with a slash in front of the net (14:38).  The teams exchanged penalties but nothing came of it.  The Flyers pretty much dominated the first period outshooting the Leafs 16-5 and the Leafs would been to make a change during intermission.

Whatever they said in the locker room worked and the Leafs came out and tied it up quick on a wraparound goal by Tyler Bozak from Phil Kessel (0:54). With the goal Bozak tops his career best of 32 points (15g 17a) last season as well as improving on his atrocious -29 now sitting at a healthy +6.  The second period looked more even than the first in which the Leafs were dominated but Philly was still getting their licks in taking the lead once again on a point shot that was tipped by Max Talbot for the 2-1 Flyer Lead (3:32).  The goal didn’t put a damper on the Leafs who kept playing hard and took the puck to the net further exposing Bobrovski with a tying goal from Joffery Lupul (5:57).  The Flyers were really beating the Leafs in the faceoff circle and it made it tough for Toronto to gain control of the puck.  Things settled down after an early explosion of goals and the goalies must have been relieved to be in a tied game.  Philadelphia’s high flying offense kept on coming and took the lead on a goal from Claude Giroux off an assist by Hartnell giving him a Gordie Howe hat-trick (goal,assist,fight) and the Flyers another lead 3-2 (13:53).  Not long after the Flyers blew the doors open scoring another goal off the rush this time with little brother Brayden Schenn banging in a juicy rebound 4-2 (15:07).  The Leafs are in deep versus the top teams in the NHL and it’s obvious in this matchup they have some depth issues especially up the middle against the physical and skilled Flyers.  Toronto has for the most part this season kept fighting back and one thing the Flyers are not is a great defensive team.  They didn’t quit and got to within one on Tyler Bozak’s second goal of the game roofing the puck during a scramble (18:09) 4-3 Flyers.  Luke Schenn assisted on the play giving both brothers points through two periods.  Ugly plays to the front of the net is going to be the Leafs bread and butter as they face high skilled forwards like Jagr and Giroux and they put themselves within striking distance heading into the third.

Matt Lombardi made a good move to the outside on a lone man rush but couldn’t get enough wood on a shot to try and test Bobrovski.  The Schenn brothers were getting a lot of playing time against one another and it made for a great dynamic to the game.  Luke Schenn has had some growing pains on his way up but perennially lead the team in hits but this year sees himself as the current team leader in Plus minus at +10.  Schenn is the type of asset that should be coveted and put on the never trade list as he will only come into his own more with age and what they are getting out of him so far is pretty good.  It’s a lot harder to be a good defender at a young age than it is to be a good offensive player at a young age so you can’t lose sight of the type of future Luke has ahead of him.  The play in the third was kind of tame compared to the wild second that saw a barrage of goals and some really good physical play from both sides.  The Leafs would need to get the puck back to the front of the net and create rebounds and scrambles if they were going to tie things up in Philadelphia.  The teams started to trade rushes through centre with the puck on the move as both teams battled to gain possession.  The Leafs took a penalty when Grabovski crashed into Bobrovski on a Leafs scoring chance.  The Flyers tried but couldn’t extend their lead past James Reimer who made a huge couple of saves to keep his team in the game.  Claude Giroux tried to dangle in on the wing but was met and put down by Luke Schenn who played the body and nullified the chance.  Time counted down into the last five minutes and the Leafs started to look desperate giving up chances as a result of pressing for the equalizer.  Talbot took a boarding call with just over 2 minutes remaining and the Leafs had another glimmer of hope to tie it up.  Phil Kessel created a nice chance flying in past the defense and centering the puck finding Bozak in front but Bobrovski made the clutch save.  The Leafs pulled Reimer with over a minute to go but couldn’t capitalize as the Flyers repeatedly cleared the puck to secure the win.

A tough road loss that the Leafs played hard in and the effort was there they were just out manned a bit and possibly the strength up the middle was exploited.  The need for a big rugged centre is glaring for Toronto, can you imagine the Leafs vs Philly in a seven game series? Not pretty.  But with that said yours truly will be 2^nd row from the ice Saturday night when the Leafs take on the Canadiens in a must win.  The Habs are a team we have to beat and we cannot lose three straight games again with the likes of San Jose and Vancouver ahead in a western roadtrip.  Look out for my www.wewantacup.com sign in the top left corner of your television Saturday night.

Bleed Blue,

Tommy Herr, Swikshz

Share this post