Flyers beat Maple Leafs in a shootout and are now four points out of a Wild Card spot

The Flyers are making this genuinely interesting.

Philadelphia went into Scotiabank Arena on Monday night without their leading scorer Travis Konecny, lost defenseman Nick Seeler to a lower-body injury in the second period, gave up a William Nylander power play goal with 2:30 left in the third period to blow a one-goal lead, and still came away with two points in a 3-2 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras delivered in the skills competition. Dan Vladar was excellent. Three wins in a row for the first time since November 26th.

Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras deliver, Flyers win in OT

MM39. TZ46. NASTY. 😮‍💨#PHIvsTOR | @fwwebb pic.twitter.com/GYLes6mojh

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 3, 2026

With the Bruins idle on Monday, the Flyers moved to within four points of the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot with 22 games remaining. That is a real number. That is a legitimate playoff race.

Vladar was the backbone of this win. He made 29 saves on 31 shots, carried the Flyers through a second period where Toronto outshot Philadelphia 11-4 and could not find a way to break the tie, stopped Auston Matthews point blank in overtime, and denied both Matthews and Max Domi in the shootout.

He allowed two or fewer goals for the 23rd time in 35 starts this season. The one blemish was not being able to cover a loose puck about six seconds before Nylander tied it on the power play late in the third, but he more than made up for it. That is what Vladar has been all season. Reliable, composed, and capable of keeping the Flyers in games they have no business being in.

Christian Dvorak tied it 1-1 on the power play before the first intermission after the Flyers fell behind for the 40th time this season. Noah Cates put them up 2-1 at 14:42 of the third on a shot past Anthony Stolarz blocker side off a pass from Bobby Brink behind the net. Cates finished with a goal and an assist.

Need a go-ahead goal? We Noah guy. #PHIvsTOR | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/xDDPZoPJSJ

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 3, 2026

Then Nylander ripped a one-timer off a John Tavares feed to tie it with 2:30 left, ending a stretch where the Flyers had been a perfect 15-for-15 on the penalty kill over eight games. You cannot win them all.

The Flyers are 28-21-11. They have earned at least a point in six of their last seven games. They are three wins into their season-best winning streak for the third time this year, and the next challenge is doing something they have not done in over two years: win four straight. The last time they did it was February 6th through 12th of the 2023-24 season.

The trade deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. The Seeler injury may factor into how general manager Danny Briere looks at Rasmus Ristolainen and what the Flyers decide to do before the deadline. Without Konecny they managed to win a road game against a desperate Leafs team. That speaks to the depth Tocchet has built and the belief that is growing in this locker room.

Four points. Twenty-two games. The Flyers are in this… for now.

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