TORONTO – Shayne Gostisbehere scored in overtime, extending his scoring streak to 15 games, as the Philadelphia Flyers edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Saturday night.
Gostisbehere already had the longest rookie scoring streak in Flyers history.
Sam Gagner and Jakub Voracek scored 39 seconds apart in the first period for the Flyers (26-21-11), joined by Brayden Schenn and Matt Read on the scoresheet.
Nick Spaling snapped a 60-game drought while Byron Froese scored for the first time in two months for Toronto (20-27-10), his second goal of the season. Shawn Matthias, who was returning from a five-game absence due to whiplash, and Peter Holland also scored for Toronto.
Toronto has lost 15 of its last 19 games.
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Making his second straight start, Jonathan Bernier gave up three goals on 13 shots in Toronto’s net and was replaced by James Reimer 57 seconds into the second period. Steve Mason started for the Flyers, but he too was replaced by Michal Neuvirth due to an apparent injury. Mason left the ice gingerly shortly after yielding the third Leafs goal to Peter Holland.
Neuvirth gave up one goal on 10 shots in relief, while Reimer stopped 12 of 15.
The Leafs had two one-goal leads erased, while the Flyers saw a two-goal deficit vanquished.
A scratch in two of the previous three games, Gagner was in the Flyers lineup due to an upper-body injury to captain Claude Giroux, who is considered day-to-day.
The Leafs played without leading scorer Leo Komarov, who served the first game of a three-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head of Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh. McDonagh suffered a jaw contusion and neck spasms as a result of the collision.
Komarov joined a lengthy list of missing Leafs which includes injured forwards James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Josh Leivo, Milan Michalek and Joffrey Lupul as well as injured defencemen Matt Hunwick and Jared Cowen. Hunwick, the Leafs leader in average ice-time, missed his second straight game due to a lower-body injury.
Saturday marked the 10th annual Canadian Armed Forces night at the Air Canada Centre. More than 500 members of the Canadian Armed Forces were in attendance. After the game the group was invited onto the ice for photo opportunities with members of the Leafs.
The Flyers won for just the third time in their last nine games.
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