PHILADELPHIA: A recurring motif throughout the Flyers’ season has been adversity. And on Tuesday, they had further challenges. They faced another Stanley Cup contender just hours after their captain, Sean Couturier, was healthy scratched, and they once again answered. earned a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs this time.

Prior to tonight, the Flyers had dropped three of their previous four games, outscoring opponents 19-7 in those defeats. They had lost 6-2 to these same Maple Leafs only five days prior, and they had a 0-2-0 record going into their next seven games against an Eastern Conference murderers’ row. Furthermore, Couturier was not playing for the Flyers. From the press box, thirty-four days after Couturier received the “C,” he was observing.

However, they applied pressure to the Leafs rather than playing at their heels. Owen Tippett scored past the screens of Toronto defenseman Joel Edmundson, Leafs captain John Tavares, and Morgan Frost just 19 seconds into the game, right in front of goalie Ilya Samsonov.

56 seconds into the second half, the Flyers scored once more, increasing their advantage to 2-0. Recalled from Lehigh Valley on Monday, Olle Lycksell placed pressure on Morgan Rielly in the offensive zone as he made his first appearance back in the starting lineup since March 4. The Flyers rebounded when Ryan Poehling caused Leafs defenseman TJ Brodie to make a poor play, and Garnet Hathaway found Travis Sanheim at the perfect place for the goal.

With a shot from the left point, Frost increased the Flyers’ advantage to 3-0 and his point run to four games. After coming off the bench, he remained at the point and scored his third goal in four games, going barely under the crossbar after receiving a pass from Ronnie Attard. The visitors scored on Sam Ersson in the third period after keeping the Leafs’ high-octane offense off the net through the first two periods while allowing only 18 shots on goal.

With a power-play goal from the left circle, William Nylander reduced the margin to 3-1. With nine minutes and forty-four seconds remaining in regulation, Rielly found Tyler Bertuzzi free in front of the net despite being crowded by Flyers players, bringing the score to one goal. When Scott Laughton was called for hooking 34 seconds later, things weren’t looking good. As of Tuesday, the Leafs were tied for fourth place in the NHL with a man advantage, having already gone 0-for-2 on the power play.

However, the Flyers held Toronto at bay, and the Leafs misplayed a pass directly to Laughton as he was returning to the game. He swung around defenseman Simon Benoit as he descended and feed Tippett, who was halted by Samsonov. Despite Samsonov being pushed out of position, Tippett persisted and set up Laughton in front of the net for the Flyers’ fourth goal.

With 2:10 remaining in the game, Tavares scored a goal off a pass from Bertuzzi, and the Leafs removed Samsonov to serve as an extra attacker. To seal the victory, however, the Flyers stopped four shots and one from Rielly.