TORONTO (AP) — Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras scored in a shootout and the Philadelphia Flyers extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
William Nylander scored on the Maple Leafs’ first shootout attempt, but Auston Matthews and Max Domi failed to convert as Toronto's losing streak reached four games.
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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz a save during third-period NHL hockey game action against the Philadelphia Flyers in Toronto, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) makes a save against Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews (34) during third-period NHL hockey game action in Toronto, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Philadelphia Flyers' Noah Cates, center, celebrates after his goal with teammates Matvei Michkov (39) and Bobby Brink (10) during third-period NHL hockey game action against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Philadelphia Flyers' Matvei Michkov (39) passes the puck while under pressure from Toronto Maple Leafs' John Tavares (91) during first-period NHL hockey game action in Toronto, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Noah Cates converted a pass from Bobby Brink with 5:18 remaining in regulation time to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. The Maple Leafs tied the game when Nylander slammed in a feed from John Tavares on the power play with 2:30 left.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube adjusted his lines, with the most notable move being the pairing of Matthews, the team captain, alongside Nylander.
Toronto’s Dakota Joshua opened the scoring at 15:22 of the first period, knocking in a pass from Matias Maccelli. It was Joshua’s first goal since returning last week after missing two months with a lacerated kidney.
Flyers center Christian Dvorak tied the game three minutes later on the power play, sweeping in a loose puck in front of the net.
Toronto outshot the Flyers 31-25, and Anthony Stolarz finished with 23 saves. Philadelphia’s Dan Vladar made 29 stops.
Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale had a chance to end the game in overtime, but his shot off the rush hit the outside of the near post with 30 seconds remaining.
Flyers' leading scorer Travis Konecny missed the game with a lower-body injury. He was a game-time decision.
Matthews has gone eight games without a goal, his longest drought of the season. A member of the U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal in Italy, Matthews was without a goal in four games before the break and has gone four more since his return.
Flyers: Host Utah on Thursday.
Maple Leafs: At New Jersey on Wednesday.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz a save during third-period NHL hockey game action against the Philadelphia Flyers in Toronto, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) makes a save against Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews (34) during third-period NHL hockey game action in Toronto, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Philadelphia Flyers' Noah Cates, center, celebrates after his goal with teammates Matvei Michkov (39) and Bobby Brink (10) during third-period NHL hockey game action against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Philadelphia Flyers' Matvei Michkov (39) passes the puck while under pressure from Toronto Maple Leafs' John Tavares (91) during first-period NHL hockey game action in Toronto, Monday, March 2, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Kelsey Plum scored 31 points to lead short-handed Phantom BC to the Unrivaled championship game as the top seed beat Vinyl 83-75 in the semifinals of the 3-on-3 league at Barclays Center on Monday night.
Phantom will face Breanna Stewart and second-seeded Mist after it rallied to beat No. 5 Breeze 73-69 in the second semifinal on a 3-pointer by Arike Ogunbowale from the corner.
The championship game will be Wednesday night at Unrivaled's home arena in Miami. The winning team will take home a prize pool of $600,000 that will be split among the players from the championship club.
Phantom was missing star forward Aliyah Boston, who is out for the playoffs with a right leg injury.
After the success of taking the league to Philadelphia in late January for a weekend that drew over 21,490 fans, Unrivaled decided to move the semifinals to New York a few weeks ago. Playing at Barclays Center was a homecoming for Stewart, the Unrivaled co-founder who led the New York Liberty to its first WNBA championship in 2024.
The star-studded sellout crowd of 18,261 included basketball greats Carmelo Anthony and Sue Bird; actors Ashton Kutcher and Jason Sudeikis, and gold medal-winning U.S. hockey player Hilary Knight.
The crowd gave a loud ovation to Liberty guard Natasha Cloud, who walked down to the court through the fans as she was introduced before the first game.
She gave them a lot to cheer about as she rallied Phantom in the third quarter from a 59-50 deficit. Cloud drew an offensive foul on one end and then had a three-point play on the other. Her team was up 71-64 heading into the final quarter, which means it needed 11 points to win under the league's format.
Vinyl got within 78-75 before Phantom scored the final five points, including the game-winner by Plum on a fadeaway 3-pointer.
Vinyl was looking to get back to the championship game. The team lost to Rose BC for last year's title. Dearica Hamby led the way for Vinyl with 30 points.
Hamby's Los Angeles Sparks teammate Rickea Jackson got Breeze going early in the second game, scoring 13 points in the opening quarter as the team went up 26-10. Mist rallied to within 44-38 at the half as Stewart hit a floater in the lane just before the halftime buzzer.
Breeze extended its advantage to 62-55 after three quarters before Stewart rallied Mist. Trailing 67-60 in the fourth quarter — with 73 points needed to win — Stewart scored seven straight, including a three-point play to tie the game.
Alanna Smith then hit a 3-pointer to give Mist its first lead of the game, 70-67. After a layup by Cameron Brink brought Breeze within one, Ogunbowale — who was celebrating her 29th birthday — ended the game when she hit a tough 3-pointer from the corner.
Paige Bueckers had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Breeze.
Chelsea Gray of Rose BC won the league's MVP award on Monday. The guard, who won Unrivaled's 1-on-1 tournament last month, averaged 24.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists. Gray broke her own league single-season assists record with 85 in 14 games. She had nine games with 20 or more points and 10 contests with five or more assists. She also tied the league single-game 3-pointers record with 10 on Feb. 22.
Gray accepted the trophy before the start of the first game.
“I want to say thank you to everyone who voted. I love this game. Want to be great every night and that's always my goal,” Gray said. “Women's basketball is where it's at, shows by all you guys coming out and watching us compete every single night.”
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Breeze BC guard Paige Bueckers (5) celebrates after scoring during the first half of a semifinal an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game against Mist BC, Monday, March 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Phantom BC guard Kelsey Plum (10) shoots over Vinyl BC guard Erica Wheeler (17) during the second half of a semifinal in their Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game, Monday, March 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Vinyl BC guard Erica Wheeler (17) drives past Phantom BC guard Kelsey Plum (10) during the first half of a semifinal in their Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game, Monday, March 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
