Flyers finish road trip with an overtime loss to the Maple Leafs

TORONTO ― It’s been a long and winding road trip for the Flyers.

Stopping in five cities with multiple time zones and climates, they wrapped things up Sunday night with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Atlantic Division’s top team, the Maple Leafs. Morgan Rielly scored the winning goal off a pass from Auston Matthews after the teams traded chances, including a spinning backhander by the Flyers’ Matvei Michkov.

The Flyers went 2-2-1 on the trip after their holiday break.

» READ MORE: Ivan Fedotov starting in goal for the Flyers after a month on the bench

Making his first start since getting pulled after allowing two goals on seven shots against the Florida Panthers on Dec. 5, Ivan Fedotov made 22 saves on 25 shots.

The rust was apparent on his rebound control, but he came up with some big-time saves against a Maple Leafs team that ranks 12th in goals scored per game (3.15). In the middle frame, with the score tied at 2, Fedotov made one of his best saves of the night, stopping a quick strike by Max Pacioretty in front.

Fedotov didn’t face his first shot on goal until 3 minutes, 54 seconds into the game on a Matthews one-timer. It came after Ryan Poehling tried a drop pass inside the Flyers’ blue line and the Leafs recovered. After the big rebound out to the point, Chris Tanev put a shot on goal that Matthews tipped before Matthew Knies scored his fourth goal in two games.

The goal by Knies tied things up less than a minute after Tyson Foerster opened the scoring for the second straight game. This time it was that shot he was always known for, as he sent a bullet from atop the right faceoff circle. Foerster now has 12 goals this season, with eight coming after he was united with Noah Cates, who got the primary assist, and Bobby Brink on Nov. 25.

The Flyers and Maple Leafs then traded chances with Fedotov stopping a wide-open Connor Dewar and Dennis Hildeby robbing Nick Seeler. But with 68 seconds left in the opening frame, Toronto took a 2-1 lead.

Fedotov made the initial save on David Kampf but sent the rebound straight up the middle. Steven Lorentz tried to control it, but Fedotov was aggressive and slid out to knock the puck away with his leg — except it went right to Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who poked it past the 6-foot-7 goalie.

Scott Laughton tied things up in the second period with his ninth goal of the season. Skating on the Flyers’ follow line after a power play, he received a cross-crease pass from Sean Couturier as he was crashing backdoor at the right post. Laughton, who hails from nearby Oakville, Ontario, has 12 points in his last 11 games.

Cates has an assist in three straight games. ... Like Laughton, Jamie Drysdale, Morgan Frost, Travis Konecny, Foerster, and Owen Tippett all hail from Ontario. ... Garnet Hathaway dropped the gloves with Toronto’s Jake McCabe in the first period. McCabe was injured in the fight and did not return. ... The Flyers’ power play went 0-for-3. ... Flyers prospect Heikki Ruohonen won a silver medal with Finland at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Finland lost 4-3 in overtime in the gold-medal game to USA Hockey. The Americans won consecutive titles for the first time in the tournament’s history.

The Flyers head home to host the Maple Leafs on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center (7:30 p.m., ESPN+, Hulu).