A night after a 4-0 win over the New York Rangers, the Philadelphia Flyers coughed up a 6-0 loss to the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
This one was over early as the Leafs posted four goals in the first period and never looked back.
After 20 minutes it was time to head home.
Andreas Johnsson account for three of the four first period goals with a hat trick.
“Of course I didn’t expect this before the game,” Johnsson said. “Obviously, nice to score. After (the third goal) the feeling kind of felt unreal. It’s kind of hard to explain. I was really happy after the first goal, and then the second goal, and all of a sudden the third goal, I was like, ‘What’s going on?'”
Patrick Marleau, Josh Leivo and John Tavares added single markers for the Leafs as they improved to 16-8-0.
“It’s great. [Johnsson] and Sparks led the way today,” Tavares said. “He got off to a [heck] of a start, and you could see the jump he had early. Just the touch around the net he had was tremendous; all three went five-hole. It was great to see his contributions today.”
Garret Sparks made 34 saves to get the win, his first shutout since 2015.
“Hopefully this means I can just relax and play goalie, and not worry about what anybody is saying,” Sparks said. “They always say don’t read what’s written about you; I can’t not read it, so just hopefully settle in, play hockey, and do what I do best: stop pucks.”
The Flyers dropped to 10-11-2 and are 1-4-1 in their last six.
[WATCH: All Flyers vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
Calvin Pickard got the start for the Flyers and was mercifully given the hook after yielding four on just six shots.
“I can’t worry about what’s going on in front of me,” Pickard said. “I’ve got to find a way to make a save and I couldn’t do that. Yesterday, we set the bar, for sure, with a big win at home (4-0 against the New York Rangers) and needed it. The roles were reversed today, and I didn’t give our team the goaltending we needed.”
Anthony Stolarz finished the game and made 32 saves.
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