Tippett, Frost help Flyers hold off Maple Leafs

Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost each had a goal and an assist for the Philadelphia Flyers, who held on for a 4-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

Travis Sanheim and Scott Laughton also scored for Philadelphia (35-26-8), which had lost three of four. Samuel Ersson made 27 saves.

“This was a huge one, especially at home,” Frost said. “I think our group really needed this one. A lot of guys stepped up. It’s going to be a battle going to the end of the season, and every point matters. That was a huge game.”

John Tavares had a goal and two assists, and Auston Matthews had two assists for Toronto (38-20-9), which has lost two games in a row (0-1-1). Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist, and Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves.

“Just weren’t sharp,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We weren’t sharp mentally, couldn’t pass the puck, couldn’t handle the puck, didn’t defend, didn’t compete. So, not a lot to like.”

Tippett gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead just 19 seconds into the first period with a wrist shot through traffic from above the left face-off circle.

“I think the emphasis has been on our starts lately,” Tippett said. “I think anytime you can get one in the first couple shifts, the first minute, it gets everyone involved and sets the tempo for the game.”

Sanheim made it 2-0 56 seconds into the second period when he took a cross-ice pass from Garnet Hathaway and beat Samsonov with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Frost pushed it to 3-0 at 16:26 with a wrist shot from the high slot.

When the teams played here March 14, the Maple Leafs led the Flyers 3-1 after two periods en route to a 6-2 victory.

“We knew they were going to be better and have a lot of urgency and come out with some pace,” Tavares said. “We just maybe weren’t as sharp as we were defensively.”

William Nylander cut it to 3-1 at 1:11 of the third period with a power-play goal, scoring on a snap shot from the left circle.

Bertuzzi made it 3-2 at 10:16, putting in a backhand pass from Morgan Rielly behind the net.

Laughton extended the lead to 4-2 at 13:00 on the rush after coming out of the penalty box, scoring in front off a wraparound pass from Tippett.

“When they score their first goal in the third period on the power play, you know it’s going to be one of those games in the third period that’s going to be close,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “To have some of our kids play in that situation and play with some poise, go through that experience, it’s huge to come out with a result.

“It doesn’t matter how we get the results, through the front door, back door, side door, however we do it, we need to get a result.”

Tavares got the Maple Leafs within 4-3 at 17:50 with Samsonov pulled for an extra attacker when he put in a loose puck in front.

Toronto hit the goal post four times and had 36 shots blocked.

“We had a ton of chances second period, third period,” Keefe said. “It could have been a lot worse in the first period at the same time. You can’t play catch-up hockey on the road and expect to win. We weren’t ready to go and that’s on me to start the game in the first period. Dig yourselves as a hole, it’s amazing when you do that how all of a sudden luck doesn’t go your way.”