Maple Leafs manage 5-2 win over Flyers with uninspired effort

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The Maple Leafs could only muster an uninspired effort but it was good enough to put away the faltering Flyers 5-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

Here is to hoping that another Toronto sports team can do in a different set of Philadelphians on Wednesday when the Raptors, down 2-0, meet the 76ers in their first-round NBA playoff series.

Jason Spezza got the game-winner on a pretty tic-tac-toe with Wayne Simmonds and Mark Giordano late in the second period. Combined, the three veterans are 109 years old.

“We are all here to provide leadership,” Spezza, 38, said. “To me, it means a lot.”

Toronto’s other goals came from William Nylander, Timothy Liljegren, David Kampf and Ilya Mikheyev.

Nylander’s was a career-high 32nd. It came in the second period off an assist from Mitch Marner, who reached a career-high 95 points at the same time.

“It’s nice to get past 31,” Nylander said.

Jack Campbell had 36 saves to earn his 30th victory of the season in Toronto’s net.

The Maple Leafs played their second game in a row without star centre Auston Matthews. The 24-year-old skated earlier in the day but was held out of the contest at the advice of the club’s medical officials.

“Despite the fact that he is feeling really good, they say a little more time will benefit him,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the morning skate. “So that is what we will give him.”

Matthews is two goals away from becoming the first U.S.-born player in NHL history to reach 60 in a single season. He has four more than Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton, who is next best.

Keefe was tight-lipped when asked the nature of what ails Matthews. On Sunday, the coach had called it a minor issue that occurred during the previous night’s victory in Ottawa over the Senators.

Is it something in his lower body? Is it something related to his upper body? Is it bigger than a bread box?

Keefe would not bite.

“We are not just resting Auston in this case. He’s got an injury,” he said. “It just speaks to the fact that we are looking at the bigger picture here.

“The ultimate goal is to be ready to compete at playoff time. That is what it is all about.”

Having to shuffle the lineup with Matthews in the injury bay, Keefe moved captain John Tavares to first-line centre with Mikheyev on his left wing and Marner on his right.

“When you’re missing someone like Auston and with the season he is having, you know you are not expecting to fill his shoes with one guy or even two,” Tavares said.

Matthews and defenceman Jake Muzzin, who has missed four of the last five games, also with an undisclosed health issue, will accompany the team on a road trip with stops in Tampa on Thursday, in Sunrise, Fla., on Saturday and in Washington on Sunday.

Toronto is second in the NHL’s Atlantic Division eight points behind the Florida Panthers. Tampa Bay is third, eight points back of the Maple Leafs, and Boston is fourth and in arrears by nine.

All four have already qualified for the playoffs; the outcome of the handful of games that remain in the regular season will determine who plays who and where.

Toronto’s most likely first-round opponent is Tampa, which has won the last two Stanley Cups.

“We are focused and confident,” Keefe said. “The guys really believe in what we are doing, they believe in each other and they believe in themselves.

“They know we need to put ourselves in the best spot possible.”

Philadelphia came in with five straight losses during which it was outscored 27-11. After an 8-4-2 start, the Flyers won only eight of their next 40 games and will not reach the post-season in consecutive years for the first time since 1992-93 and 1993-1994.

They have 10 wins in 38 outings  as a visitor and have lost nine of their last 11 contests overall.

The first period was fast-paced but neither club was able to score. Both Campbell and Martin Jones of Philadelphia were sharp in the nets. Jones turned away Simmonds, Colin Blackwell and Mikheyev on especially dangerous chances.

The Maple Leafs had two power plays but were unable to generate a shot on either and seemingly looked out of sync without Matthews. Fifteen of his franchise-record 58 goals thus far have come with a man advantage.

Liljegren netted his fifth goal of the season and fourth in the last nine games to put Toronto ahead with 18:25 left in the second period. Liljegren fired a hard wrist shot over Jones’s left shoulder following a cross-seam pass from behind the net by Alexander Kerfoot.

That was a good omen for the Maple Leafs and a very bad one for the Flyers. Toronto is 34-6-2 when it scores first, while Philly is 5-34-4 when its opponent goes up 1-0.

The former Maple Leaf James van Riemsdyk won a net-front battle to even the score with 11:53 to go in the second. It was the 32-year-old left wing’s 21st of the season.

Toronto made good on its third power play. With Ivan Provorov in the penalty box for holding, Nylander scored on a hard wrist shot from the left side.

After a Philadelphia turnover, the 38-year-old Spezza combined on a give-and-go with Simmonds, 33, and Giordano, also 38, on the prettiest play of the game. It was Spezza’s 11th goal and first in 21 games and made it 3-1.

“It was a beautiful goal,” Nylander said. “I loved it.”

That was more bad news for the Flyers: They had won just two of 38 games when they trailed after 40 minutes. Make that two of 39.

Kampf scored with 9:49 to go in the third, while Mikheyev got a late empty netter.

Toronto improved to 51-20-6 and now has 108 points for the campaign. Both are franchise records.

Now, the Lightning and the Panthers and the playoffs loom.

“We know what’s coming here but we are not losing our focus,” Spezza said. “It is important that we are playing good hockey and moving the needle forward.”