With Auston Matthews back in their lineup, the Maple Leafs signed a second victory in 24 hours and a fourth consecutive victory by winning 3-2 over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night.
The Toronto captain added two assists, including an assist on Morgan Rielly’s game-winning goal at 2:25 of overtime. The defender completed a pass from Matthews on a two-on-one descent to beat Ivan Fedotov on the glove side.
Dennis Hildeby made a rare start in net for the Leafs where he made 30 saves.
Matthew Knies, coming off a three-goal, five-point night against Boston, scored his 15th goal of the season 38 seconds after Tyson Foerster opened the scoring for Philadelphia at 3:24 of the first period.
Matthews had missed the last six games due to a recurring injury that has bothered him since the start of the season. The line of Matthews, Knies and Mitch Marner combined for 13 points and finished plus-16 in Saturday’s 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins.
The Leafs weren’t as sharp a day later, but they did the job to win in overtime.
This game marked the halfway point of the season for the Maple Leafs, who find themselves in 1is rank in the Atlantic Division – four points ahead of the Florida Panthers – and 5e rank in the overall NHL standings after 41 games.
