Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Maple Leaf regulars take down Flyers


Toronto, ON -- Jonathan Bernier and Antoine Bibeau combined for a 25-save shutout, while four different players lit the lamp as Toronto took down Philadelphia, 4-0, in exhibition action from Air Canada Centre.

James van Riemsdyk, Brandon Kozun, Cody Franson and William Nylander tallied for the Leafs, who beat their Tuesday foes by a 3-2 count in a shootout on Monday in London, Ontario.

Steve Mason went the distance and stopped 28 shots in the loss for the Flyers, who fell to 1-1-1 in the preseason. 

Playing against a stacked foe on their home turf, the Orange and Black managed to hold Toronto without a shot through the game's first 6 1/2 minutes, but the tide quickly turned.

Van Riemsdyk put the Leafs on the board with 6:27 left in the opening period, taking a shot that only the most confident players think about, lifting the puck under the crossbar from along the goal line while Mason wedged himself against the left post. 

Mason was good on all 11 Leaf chances in the middle period, but things unraveled in the third.

Kozun scored off a lead pass from Trevor Smith while Roman Polak served his second of three penalties six seconds shy of the five-minute mark to make it 2-0. Franson's prayer from astride the blue line deflected off Luke Schenn and careened through Mason's legs near the midway point, then Nylander's tally off a nifty feed from Phil Kessel closed out the scoring with 57 seconds left.

Zack Stortini once again made a stronger case for his permanent inclusion on the Phantoms' roster. After engaging in two fights during Monday's loss, he struck for 29 penalty minutes in just 7 1/2 minutes of ice time. 

Schenn, paired with newcomer Michael Del Zotto looked halting at best, while Sean Couturier's stint up front with the first power play unit failed to yield desired results. 

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