PHILADELPHIA – The Flyers; Scott Laughton scored with seven minutes left in the third period to give the Flyers a 4-2 lead over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. 
The Flyers needed that goal because the Maple Leafs trimmed the deficit to 4-3 on a goal by John Tavares at 17:50.
The Flyers held off the Maple Leafs over the final two minutes for the 4-3 win.
The Flyers entered the third period with a 3-0 lead.
Samuel Ersson made 27 saves in the win.
Philadelphia moved to 35-26-8.
Owen Tippett staked the Flyers to a 1-0 lead with 19 seconds gone in the game.
“I think the emphasis has been on our starts lately,” Tippett said. “I think anytime you can get one in the first couple shifts, the first minute, it gets everyone involved and sets the tempo for the game.”
In the middle frame, Travis Sanheim struck for a 2-0 lead to the Flyers with 56 seconds gone in the period, scoring from the right circle.
Morgan Frost pushed the lead to 3-0 at 16:26, scoring form the slot.
“We knew they were going to be better and have a lot of urgency and come out with some pace,” Tavares said. “We just maybe weren’t as sharp as we were defensively.”
The Leafs dropped to 38-20-9 off their second straight loss.
“Just weren’t sharp,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We weren’t sharp mentally, couldn’t pass the puck, couldn’t handle the puck, didn’t defend, didn’t compete. So, not a lot to like.”
In the third period, the Maple Leafs rallied off two straight goals to trim the deficit to 3-2.
William Nylander scored first, at 1:11, to make it a 3-1 games, scoring from the left circle.
Tyler Bertuzzi scored midway through the frame to get the Maple Leafs to within 3-2.
“When they score their first goal in the third period on the power play, you know it’s going to be one of those games in the third period that’s going to be close,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “To have some of our kids play in that situation and play with some poise, go through that experience, it’s huge to come out with a result.
“It doesn’t matter how we get the results, through the front door, back door, side door, however we do it, we need to get a result.”
Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves in the loss.
“We had a ton of chances second period, third period,” Keefe said. “It could have been a lot worse in the first period at the same time. You can’t play catch-up hockey on the road and expect to win. We weren’t ready to go and that’s on me to start the game in the first period. Dig yourselves a hole, it’s amazing when you do that how all of a sudden luck doesn’t go your way.”
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