First and foremost, let’s hope Chris Tanev is okay. It was a scary scene, but the initial news that he is feeling okay, passed his tests, and is on his way back to Toronto is a major relief.
Secondly, condolences to Jays fans everywhere on one of the most heartbreaking losses in professional sports history. As someone who is far and away a bigger Leafs fan than a Jays fan, I’m not one for the comparisons or this idea that the Jays ‘Leaf’d’ this opportunity. It’s unfair to compare what the Jays accomplished this season to the rinse-and-repeat first or second round Game 7 letdowns by the Leafs.
A hockey game was played last night, and it was a pretty good one by the Maple Leafs. Coming off a sloppy loss in Columbus, the initial start was about as bad as it could’ve gone for the Leafs, as Chris Tanev defended a dump-and-chase passively and Oliver Ekman-Larsson botched the coverage, leaving Christian Dvorak alone in front to make it 1-0 inside 1:10 of the start.
From there, the Leafs settled in and played a solid, hard-working road game.
Following a good offensive-zone shift by the Knies-Matthews-Robertson line, Auston Matthews tied it up with a recently-rare-but-vintage Matthews snipe (more on that in the notes). They didn’t take advantage of a four-minute power play late in the first period, but they came out and mostly owned the middle frame after surviving an early too-many-men penalty (which led to a scare with a double-post scramble in the crease). They out-scored the Flyers 2-0 and out-shot them 12-3 at five-on-five with the long change.
Jake McCabe scored on a seeing-eye floater from distance after a grinding offensive-zone shift by the Joshua-Roy-Maccelli line. The Leafs did a good job of working to earn pucks back on the forecheck and then making the second and third-effort plays to extend offensive-zone sequences in this game. In this case, Maccelli recovered a puck by stripping Nick Seeley after Tanev’s initial point shot, and the Leafs reloaded with another high-to-low point-shot play that found its way in.
Late in the period, in the midst of the Leafs’ longest defensive-zone sequence of the middle frame, Nick Robertson padded the lead with a counterpunch goal. In the middle of his own zone, a dog-tired Tavares made a poised between-the-legs pass to Matthew Knies to spring a 2v2 with Robertson. The two worked a scissor play, with a drop pass to Robertson, who ripped it past Vladar for his third of the season/third in his last four. It was a big turning point moment in the game after a spell of Flyers’ pressure, and the Leafs never really looked back from there.
In the first minute of the third period, the Leafs put the game comfortably in hand with the most memorable moment of the night, Easton Cowan’s first NHL goal. The chemistry was flowing throughout the night between Cowan and Tavares, who won a defensive-zone draw, pounced on a loose puck in the neutral zone, and found Cowan in space at the top of the circle to step in and rip home a pretty first NHL tuck.
"SCORES!"
EASTON COWAN FIRST CAREER NHL GOAL
🔊 @Bonsie1951 @Jim_Ralph pic.twitter.com/iOddRL61d7
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) November 2, 2025
That all but sealed it; the teams traded garbage-time goals (a power-play goal for Philly, an empty-netter for Jarnkrok), and there was a dubious no-goal call on the Flyers for a high stick, but this was a well-earned first road victory of the season for the Leafs. The key stat, given their troubles in Columbus and shaky start defensively in general: only one odd-man rush against by the time the Leafs made it 4-1.
Post-Game Notes
– During their 3-1 stretch this week, the Leafs are decidedly on the plus side of shots, shot attempts, and expected goals at five-on-five. The competition hasn’t exactly been stiff — Buffalo, Calgary, Columbus, Philadelphia — but it’s at least trending in the right direction in terms of their puck possession and offensive-zone time.
Notably, the Flyers were off to a strong start defensively — near the top of the league in all the major defensive metrics — and the Leafs put four past them at five-on-five in the first 41 minutes to win the game. Craig Berube talked about “shooting our way in” against Philly’s packed house, and the team did a good job of grinding to get pucks back with second and third efforts vs. being one and done, which opened up a lot for them offensively. They earned offense the honest way as opposed to cheating for it or gambling up ice, and they cracked down on the sloppiness overall, limiting chances off turnovers and odd-man rushes. It’s a good road win to build on; when they aren’t shooting themselves in the foot, this team continues to score enough to win plenty of hockey games.
– Easton Cowan kept banging on the door over and over until he finally broke it down for his first NHL goal. Around the midway point of the game, he took a stretch pass in the neutral zone, ripped a shot that tested Dan Vladar up high, recovered his own rebound, cycled up high, drew in a pair of defenders, and found Tavares for a good look. A few minutes later, with a good burst of speed through the neutral zone, he worked a give-and-go with Tavares, leading to a 2v1 where the puck hopped over Cowan’s stick. He then worked a give-and-go with Matthews late in the second period and ripped it high. He finally got it done at the start of the third.
John Tavares has made everyone he has played with better this season, but he showed a clear, instant chemistry with Cowan in this game. They’re both cerebral players who see the ice really well, and they were connecting right away, creating a bunch of looks throughout the night. There are a lot of moving parts right now with bodies returning, but it would be a shame not to see some more of this pair.
If William Nylander is back for Monday’s game, I’d be tempted to try him with Tavares and Cowan, while Bobby McMann shifts down to Domi’s line. After his nice start, McMann now has zero points and just 10 shots on goal in his last eight games while playing 15.5 per night inside the team’s top six.
– Auston Matthews scored two empty netters, two back-door tap-ins, and one power-play one-timer for his five goals through 11 games this season. Tonight’s goal — his sixth of the year — was the first goal where he’s skated downhill with the puck and ripped one by a goalie at five-on-five since his Game 6 third-period goal past Sergei Bobrovsky last May, 13 games ago. Matthews demanding the puck and blowing it by a goalie was a really refreshing sight to see, and let’s hope it’s the start of a run for #34. Even for the type of talent that can pot 69 goals in the NHL, confidence is everything.
– There was a collection of good bottom-six shifts in this game for the Leafs in which they grinded down low, got pucks off the walls, got inside, and created net-front action. Nic Roy played a great first period in particular, dominating in the faceoff circle and showing his strength on the puck along the walls to extend cycles. His line, after good work from Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli down low, created the 2-1 goal in the second period.
Down on the fourth line, Sammy Blais has provided a real shot in the arm in the last two games. On top of his physicality on the forecheck — another five recorded hits, like in Columbus — Blais made several nice plays with the puck. On a brief shift with Matthews and Knies, Blais burst into the slot and ripped a good shot that tested the goalie high. In the second period, he made a really nice one-touch pass in the neutral zone to spring a 2v1 for Domi and Jarnkrok.
Add in his goal and assist in Columbus, and it’s hard to ask for much more from Blais than what he’s provided in 10 minutes per game. The difficulty is that a numbers crunch is coming, with Nylander, Lorentz, and Laughton all expected back sooner than later.
– With Chris Tanev out of the game, Brandon Carlo stepped up with a team-leading (by a lot) 24 minutes of ice time, and his pairing with Morgan Rielly doubled up the Flyers in shot attempts at five-on-five. After a rocky start, Carlo’s game is showing some encouraging signs of stabilizing, and he has been a big part of a PK that is rolling along nicely at the moment.
– The Leafs didn’t ask him to stand on his head in this one (for once), but Anthony Stolarz stopped 31 of 33 (.939) for his first game above .900 since October 16 vs. the Rangers.
Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts
