Leafs jump out early, roll past Flyers

Tyler Bertuzzi, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Pontus Holmberg and Timothy Liljegren each had one goal and one assist to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs past the host Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 on Thursday.

Matthew Knies contributed one goal for the Maple Leafs. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves.

Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster scored one goal each for the Flyers.

Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson allowed three goals in the first period and was then replaced by Felix Sandstrom, who allowed three more in the final two periods.

The Flyers played without coach John Tortorella for the second leg of a two-game suspension. Associate coach Brad Shaw ran the game-day duties again.

Matthews gave the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead at 4:45 of the third period with a blazing shot past Sandstrom's glove. It was Matthews' 55th goal of the season.

Eight seconds later, Nylander scored for a 5-1 advantage.

Knies scored at the nine-minute mark of the third to give Toronto a 6-1 lead.

Foerster hit a one-timer while short-handed for the Flyers at 18:28 to close out the scoring.

The Maple Leafs dominated the first period with three goals and a fourth that was nullified because of a hand pass.

Toronto took a quick 1-0 lead at 2:01 when Bertuzzi connected off a crisp pass by Matthews. Holmberg scored at 9:57 to double the lead. At 15:39, Liljegren gave the Maple Leafs a 3-0 advantage with Samsonov earning a rare assist.

The Flyers managed 12 shots on goal, including a couple of stellar attempts by Scott Laughton in the final few minutes.

Tippett scored on the power play for his 24th goal of the season, and the Flyers closed within 3-1 at 1:42 of the second period.

Sandstrom made a couple of outstanding saves, including one against John Tavares at 5:51.

Bobby McMann was whistled for tripping Tippett at 15:55. The power play was cut short with 44 seconds remaining when Bobby Brink was called for hooking.

—Field Level Media