Nylander reaches 40 goals for Toronto, which ties Florida for 1st in Atlantic
Flyers at Maple Leafs | Recap
By Dave McCarthy
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
TORONTO -- William Nylander and John Tavares each had two goals and two assists, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 7-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
“I thought we played a good 60 minutes, created a lot of offensive and played good on the defensive side of the puck as well,” Nylander said. “I’m just trying to do what I’m paid to do, that’s it.”
PHI@TOR: Nylander nets his second goal and fourth point of game in 2nd period
Nylander tied his career high by scoring his 40th goal for the third straight season. He is the fourth player in Maple Leafs history to record three consecutive 40-goal seasons, joining Auston Matthews (five from 2019-20 to 2023-24), Lanny McDonald (three from 1976-77 to 1978-79) and Rick Vaive (three from 1981-82 to 1983-84).
“He’s a lot of fun to play with,” Tavares said of Nylander. “Such a unique talent and the way he’s elevated his game the last number of years, becoming a perennial All-Star, one of the top wingers in the game and such a game-breaker. One of the ultimate game-breakers in our league and certainly we are thrilled to have him. He’s having a great year and 40 is difficult to get, so he’s obviously done a lot of great things. He’s a special player.”
Bobby McMann had a goal and an assist, and Anthony Stolarz made 17 saves for the Maple Leafs (43-25-3), who have won four of their past five.
PHI@TOR: McMann increases Maple Leafs' lead in 2nd period
Toronto moved into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Florida Panthers.
“That would be sweet (to win the division),” McMann said. “I’m sure there would be a lot of buzz around the city, which would be really cool and it would be a good showing for us to show where our game is at to finish the season.”
Ryan Poehling and Sean Couturier scored, and Samuel Ersson made 23 saves for the Flyers (28-36-9), who are 0-5-1 in their past six.
Philadelphia remained 10 points behind the Montreal Canadiens, who have three games in hand, for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"This falls on me,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now. But I have to do a better job. So this falls on me, getting the team prepared to play the proper way until we get to the end."
Poehling gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 7:59 when he one-timed a pass from Jakob Pelletier over Stolarz’s glove from above the left hash marks.
The Maple Leafs then scored six consecutive goals.
Tavares tied it 1-1 at 10:37 after taking a pass from Nylander and scoring glove side from the slot.
PHI@TOR: Tavares gets Maple Leafs on board in opening period
Nylander put Toronto up 2-1 at 15:11 on the power play when he banked a shot off Nick Seeler’s skate, who was at the top of the goal crease.
McMann made it 3-1 at 1:45 of the second period. After Nylander carried the puck around the net, he found McMann in the slot for a one-timer for his 20th goal of the season.
“It’s great,” McMann said. “If you told me at the start I’d get that, I’d be happy, I think, but I’m just happy we won more than anything and feeling good about our team game. I didn’t call for it because I just knew [Nylander] saw me, honestly. He’s so good at scanning the ice. Maybe earlier on if I was playing with him, I’d be tighter on the net, but I know he sees that play and most times he’s going to make it.”
Tavares’ second goal of the game extended it to 4-1 at 7:49. He took a pass from Marner in the slot and deked to his forehand before shooting past Ersson’s blocker.
Nylander pushed it to 5-1 at 11:55 with his second goal, shooting blocker side from the high slot for his 40th goal of the season.
“I thought Willy tonight, the goals are one thing, but for me, tonight I thought he checked really well, he was on top of things,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “Broke plays up, backchecked, broke plays up and then from defense to offense, he’s so quick with his agility and speed. He was solid tonight all around.”
David Kampf made it 6-1 at 15:08 with a shot between Ersson’s pads on a breakaway.
Couturier cut it to 6-2 at 18:17, deflecting Jamie Drysdale’s point shot in the slot.
PHI@TOR: Couturier trims Flyers' deficit in 2nd period
Max Domi outraced Emil Andrae to a loose puck in the Flyers zone and shot under Ersson's right pad at 11:32 for the 7-2 final.
“It’s ugly right now,” Couturier, the Flyers captain, said. “... We’re not capitalizing when we have chances to be in the game or take the lead and the other way, we’re letting in a lot of goals so we’re making it hard on ourselves. But no one really feels sorry for us, but it’s on us to dig deeper, put our working boots on and come back next game.”
NOTES: Nylander became the second Swedish player in NHL history to record three consecutive 40-goal seasons, joining Markus Naslund (three from 2000-01 to 2002-03). … Maple Leafs forward Scott Laughton had five hits in 14:51 in his first game against the Flyers since being traded by Philadelphia on March 7. He had 265 points (106 goals, 159 assists) in his first 661 NHL games with the Flyers from 2012-2025.
