The Good<\/h2>\n\n\n\nJohn Tavares<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We don\u2019t use the word \u201cGreat\u201d in the title of these reports. If we did, what John Tavares did tonight would go under that heading. We’ve been waiting for Auston Matthews to lift this team on his back and play the type of dominant game he is capable of. Instead, it was Tavares who did it in this game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Tavares hat trick and a four-point night, that included a highlight-reel goal, and a little luck, was just what the Maple Leafs needed. <\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nTavares started the night by receiving a Mitch Marner pass behind the Flyers\u2019 net on the power play and finding Matthews in front of the net. After being stopped on his first attempt, Matthews knocked in his own rebound to tie the game at one, three and half minutes after the Flyers opened the scoring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tavares’ Goals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
On his first goal, at the end of a long shift where Tavares, William Nylander, and Alex Kerfoot were buzzing in the Flyer\u2019s end, Tavares gets dumped out near the blue line. As he’s picking himself up, Nylander corrals the puck and saucers a pass in Tavares\u2019 direction. Tavares winds up and one-times the puck bar down into the net. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tavares\u2019 second goal was a thing of beauty. Taking a pass from the exiting Marner, Taveres enters the Flyers\u2019 zone along the right boards, skates towards the corner, turns Flyer\u2019s defenseman Travis Sanheim inside out with a nifty stick handle, and skates past the net, before going backhand to forehand coming out from behind the net to beat Felix Sandstrom far side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n