Maple Leafs lose McCabe in OT win over Flyers

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs won the hard way Sunday. And Jake McCabe suffered the most in a 3-2 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Leafs defenceman was left dazed after a short but vicious fight with Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway late in the first period. McCabe, objecting to Hathaway running into goaltender Dennis Hildeby, goaded Hathaway into dropping his gloves and then got the worst of the ensuing scrap.

McCabe, losing his balance while absorbing a right to the head, fell awkwardly as the fight ended with Hathaway landing on top of him. Looking like a newborn foal, McCabe tried to get up but failed — prompting teammates and the trainer to quickly offer assistance.

He did not return and there was no immediate update on what the team called an “upper-body injury.”

“I didn’t like what I saw, I’ll tell you that,” said Toronto coach Craig Berube. “He’s sticking up for the team and his teammate. We all really appreciate that but I didn’t like seeing that happen.”

Adding to the Leafs’ concern is the fact that McCabe missed five games earlier this season after taking a puck to the head.

McCabe’s teammates appreciated the veteran standing up for his goaltender but clearly felt for their fallen defenceman.

“You don’t want to see that ever, see a teammate hurt,” said forward Matthews Knies. “I’m glad we battled back for him and won the game for him.”

“He’s a great team guy,” added Hildeby.

An onrushing Morgan Rielly knocked home an Auston Matthews feed to decide the game at 2:25 of overtime. It was the defenceman’s fifth goal of the season — and first since Nov. 5.

It marked the sixth overtime goal of Rielly’s NHL career, moving him within one of tying Tomas Kaberle for the most by a Leafs defenceman, according to NHL Stats.

Knies and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored for Toronto, which recovered from an early Tyson Foerster goal to lead 2-1 after 20 minutes. Scott Laughton tied it for Philadelphia midway through the second period.

It was also a weekend to remember for Knies, who had three goals and two assists in Saturday’s 6-4 win over Boston. The burly forward now has 15 goals, matching last season’s total over 80 games.

The Leafs were not as sharp as Saturday but got the job done.

“I thought it was a gutsy win,” said Berube. “Philly is hard to play against. They’re quick, they’re fast. They play hard and they had legs. It was a difficult game for us.”

After failing to score since Nov. 30, the Leafs’ defencemen have now scored three goals in two games with a McCabe goal Saturday ending the drought. Going into the Boston game, Toronto had scored 50 goals in its 16 previous outings without its blueliners accounting for any of them.

Toronto (26-13-2) has won four straight and five of its last six. At the halfway point of their season, the Leafs top the Atlantic Division and rank second in the Eastern Conference behind the Washington Capitals.

Sunday marked the finale of a six-game, 10-day road trip that saw Flyer wins in Columbus and Anaheim (in overtime) and losses in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Vegas.

The Flyers (17-18-5) came into the game ranked 30th in the league in goals against (averaging 3.56 goals a game) and gave up seven, five and five goals in their three previous losses on the road trip. But the Flyers made the Leafs work hard Sunday.

It was a battle of the big men in the crease with six-foot-seven goaltenders in Hildeby and Philadelphia’s Ivan Fedotov. Both made spectacular saves in a first period that saw Philadelphia outshoot Toronto 14-13. It was a fourth career NHL start for Sweden’s Hildeby and 14th for Fedotov, a Finnish-born Russian.

Hildeby likely wanted the first Philadelphia goal back but came on strong. Toronto was outshot 32-25.

“Very good” was Berube’s assessment of his goalie who has won three of four outings.

Flyers coach John Tortorella also liked what he saw from Fedotov, saying “High marks for him.”

“Other than the first period in pockets where we turned the puck over a little bit I thought it was one of our better games,” he added.

Toronto is 17-7-0 on home ice this season, tied with the Vegas Golden Knights (17-4-0) for the league lead.

The Leafs and Flyers meet again Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Toronto will have some company on the road trip, which includes a game Thursday in Carolina. Rather than the traditional fathers’ or mothers’ trip, this one includes “mentors” with former Leafs Joe Thornton, Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark and Winnipeg Blue Bombers coach Mike O’Shea among those invited.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2025

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