Maple Leafs’ playoff hopes all but gone after SO loss to Flyers

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Another loss, another foot deeper in the Eastern Conference, another day of swap speculation.

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That’s the rut the Maple Leafs keep themselves in, the only newsworthy story this week being what, if anything, general manager Brad Treliving can do by Friday’s NHL trade deadline.

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With a chance to catch the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday —just one of the six teams they’d have to pass for a wild-card spot in their remaining 21 games — the Leafs looked better than in any of their four post-Olympic break defeats, but fell 3-2 in a shootout and lost a point to Philly in the chase.

After William Nylander tied it on the power play with 2:30 to play and had their only goal in the tiebreaker, both Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras scored.

Bobby McMann, in his 200th and possibly last game as a Leaf, was one of the commodities on view for a Scotiabank Arena press box brimming with half the scouts in the NHL. Coach Craig Berube coincidentally featured him on left wing on a souped-up first line with top scorers Auston Matthews and William Nylander. But they were on for Noah Cates’ goal, with the frequently victimized defence pairing of Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo.

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30 or more shots once again

The Leafs, in a fatal habit of surrendering 30 or more shots in 15 of their previous 16 games to lead the league in that category overall, had equally good opportunities around Dan Vladar.

The top unit didn’t click, Matthews now without a goal in eight games, but the Leafs scored first for the second straight home game after some big Anthony Stolarz stops, including a glove on an uncontested Bobby Brink from the slot.

The goal was Dakota Joshua’s seventh and first since Dec. 18, after which he missed weeks prior to the Olympic break with a lacerated kidney. Mattias Maccelli had the nice assist, with both players brought in last summer as part of the failed plan to replace Mitch Marner’s offence by committee.

The lead held up until Toronto’s third penalty of the period as Christian Dvorak poked a rebound through Stolarz, out-shot 14-7 in the period. The Flyers were without top scorer Travis Konecny, a late scratch with an upper body injury.

The Leafs, in a fatal habit of surrendering 30 or more shots in 15 of their previous 16 games to lead the league in that category overall, had equally good opportunities around Vladar, with Maccelli firing wide on a nice Nicolas Roy centring feed.

But an early third-period power play earned by Nylander yielded just one shot, while Cates hit the post on a giveaway.

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