National Hockey League
Toronto 4, Philadelphia 2
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 9, 2017
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Referees: T.J. Luxmore, Kevin Pollock
Linesmen: Devin Berg, Steve Miller
Attendance: 18894

TORONTO -- Tyler Bozak missed the morning skate and was listed as a game-time decision against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

The Toronto Maple Leafs center not only played but scored a goal and added an assist to help his team defeat the Flyers 4-2.

"I wasn't sure (about playing), just a little banged up, but that happens this time of year," Bozak said. "Getting older every year, your body's not as nice to you as it is when you're younger. We've got a really good training staff here and I spent a lot of time trying to get ready. I still wasn't sure come warmups but felt good enough to go. It's a pretty important game for us so it's not one you want to miss. I was happy I was able to play."

William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Maple Leafs, who won their second straight game after losing five in a row.

"I thought we were a little bit tight early for the first six or seven minutes," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "(Goaltender Frederik Andersen) was good. Then I thought we got skating real good and took the game over, but we obviously needed him for sure and on the penalty kills with their good power play. When we were five-on-six I didn't think we executed very good there and I thought (Andersen) had to be very good. Good for him and, obviously, good for us."

Wayne Simmonds gave the Flyers (31-27-8) the lead with a power-play goal in the first period. Nylander tied the game for the Maple Leafs (30-22-14) in the first on the power play and Bozak's even-handed goal gave Toronto the lead in the second.

Shayne Gostisbehere scored a third-period goal for the Flyers after Marner had given Toronto a two-goal lead early in the period. Kadri added an empty-net goal.

Frederik Andersen made 36 saves in the Toronto goal, while Flyers netminder Michal Neuvirth stopped 29 shots.

"They're a good team without the puck," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "They're going to check and they're going to make some plays. You have to limit those. There were portions of the game where we did an excellent job and there were other times where we weren't effective."

The Flyers had a chance to tie the Maple Leafs in the standings with a regulation-time victory as both teams are close to a playoff spot.

"It's frustrating," Flyers center Claude Giroux said. "It wasn't our best game but we did a lot of good things. And we've just got to be better. We can't be thinking about the big picture, we have to go one game at time. I'm pretty upset right now, we needed that win and it wasn't good enough. They're a young team, they're fast, they check pretty well. It took us a while to kind of wake up a little bit and when we did we were fine."

The Maple Leafs took the season series from the Flyers 2-1 with each team winning at home.

After the Flyers could not capitalize on a power-play opportunity in the third period, the Maple Leafs took advantage of their power-play opportunity at 13:44 of the third when Marner scored his 16th goal of the season with Brayden Schenn off for tripping.

Gostisbehere scored his sixth goal of the season from the right circle at 17:32 to cut the lead to 3-2. Kadri scored his 28th goal of the season into an empty net at 19:00.

Simmonds scored his 28th of the season on a power play at 6:09 of the first period after Gostisbehere's shot from the point hit the crossbar. Marner was serving a tripping penalty.

Nylander drilled a shot from the right circle for his 18th goal of the season, also on a power play, at 13:57 of the first to tie the game. Philadelphia's Radko Gudas was off for interference.

Neuvirth was making the start after backing up the previous four games. "I felt a little rusty but after I made a couple of saves, I settled down and started feeling good," he said.

Bozak put Toronto into a 2-1 lead with an unassisted goal at 9:28 of the second period for his 16th of the season on a shot from the right circle after he took the puck away from a Flyer. The goal came after Andersen made two good saves at the other end.

"It was huge points for us," Andersen said. "It was awesome to see everyone play hard and wanting to win this game. They came at us a little bit in the end but we stuck with it and scored some big goals."

NOTES: Philadelphia G Michal Neuvirth was a surprise starter Thursday. G Steve Mason had started the four previous games in which he had a 1.45 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage and the team was 3-0-1. Neuvirth entered Thursday with a 10-9-1 record and a 2.90 goals-against average against Toronto in his career. He helped beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Jan. 24 in Philadelphia. Mason is 4-6-2 with a 3.43 goals-against average in his career against Toronto. He was in the nets when the Flyers lost 6-3 at Toronto Nov. 11. ... The Maple Leafs open a three-game trip when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday. ... The Flyers end a four-game trip Saturday with a game against the Boston Bruins.
Top Game Performances
 
Philadelphia   Toronto
Shayne Gostisbehere 2 Points Tyler Bozak 2
Shayne Gostisbehere 1 Goals Tyler Bozak 1
Shayne Gostisbehere 1 Assists Tyler Bozak 1
Wayne Simmonds 1 Power Play Goals Mitchell Marner 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Michal Neuvirth .906 Save Percentage Frederik Andersen .947
Michal Neuvirth 29 Saves Frederik Andersen 36
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Philadelphia 38 2 1-3 0-2 4 38
Toronto 33 4 2-2 2-3 6 28
Upcoming Games
  • Toronto will play their next game on the road against Carolina. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .448 after a win and .459 after a loss.
  • Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against Boston. The Flyers have a W/L % of .452 after a win and .486 after a loss.