Nikita Grebenkin played his part in getting revenge against his old Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Philadelphia Flyers were toothless overall in the 5-2 loss.
Grebenkin, 22, played against the Maple Leafs, the team that drafted him (and later traded him for Scott Laughton) for the first time on Sunday night, and he got the party started early.
Trailing Travis Konecny on the forecheck, Grebenkin picked up a touch off the wall before making a heady pass to Christian Dvorak for a slam-dunk goal.
Somehow, Grebenkin played a team-low 10:44 after a hot start, so the nice play isn’t going to guarantee him a place in the lineup over Nick Deslauriers just yet.
Auston Matthews, Jake McCabe, Nick Robertson, and Easton Cowan all struck in the second and third periods, respectively, giving the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead on what was a catastrophic night for the Flyers defensively.
Goalie Dan Vladar was pulled 33 seconds into the period after allowing Cowan’s goal, which was the first of the Maple Leafs rookie’s career.
Prospect Aleksei Kolosov, called up to cover for the injured Sam Ersson, shut the door the rest of the way, stopping all seven shots he faced in 15 minutes of action.
Tyson Foerster and Calle Jarnkrok traded goals late in the third period to bring us to a 5-2 final, but the game was ultimately tainted by an awkward collision between Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev and Flyers star Matvei Michkov.
Tanev, 35, had just returned from a concussion and appeared to knock heads with Michkov at the Maple Leafs’ defensive blueline.
The longtime Canucks defenseman stayed down on the ice for several minutes, but gave a thumbs up as he was wheeled off the ice in a stretcher.
“Just an unfortunate play. You hope that he’s okay, and you feel bad for Mike (Matvei Michkov), too. He’s obviously upset about the hit,” Travis Sanheim said after the game.
Michkov was rubbed on the shoulder by teammate Trevor Zegras in the locker room after the game, and Travis Konecny offered words of encouragement, too.
Konecny also offered to help Michkov get in touch with Tanev; former Flyers teammates Anthony Stolarz and Scott Laughton both play for the Maple Leafs.
With the loss, the Flyers handed the Maple Leafs their first road win of the season while suffering just their second loss on home ice this season.
Zegras stayed hot with an assist on Foerster’s power play goal, extending his point streak to four games.
Kolosov will start as the Flyers host old friends Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and the Calgary Flames at Xfinity Mobile Arena at 7 p.m. on Sunday night.
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