PHILADELPHIA -- Rookie right winger Roman Lyubimov stepped out of the shadows to score the biggest NHL goal of his young career Thursday night, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Signed as a free agent over the summer after spending parts of six seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League, Lyubinmov netted his fourth goal of the season with 2:37 remaining in the third period to give the Flyers their third consecutive win heading into the NHL All-Star break.

Asked if it was his biggest NHL goal, Lyubimov smiled.

"Now, yes," the 25-year-old said. "But I hope I will get more."

"He's full of hustle," said Flyers right winger Wayne Simmonds, who scored his 21st goal of the season in the win. "I think if you watch him play, he's probably the hardest working guy out there every shift."

Goaltender Michal Neuvirth, starting in place of Steve Mason on the second end of back-to-back games, stopped 27 shots to improve to 7-4-0.

Curtis McElhinney (3-2-2) made 32 saves in the loss for the Leafs, who received their lone goal from William Nylander. The result snapped an 11-game road point streak for the Leafs, who were 9-0-2 in their previous 11 road games.

"In the end, it's disappointing because we were two minutes away from getting a point," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "But in saying that, the better team when the game was on the line won. In back-to-back games, we didn't have enough guys good enough long enough."

Nylander said he was disappointed in the result but pleased with the Leafs' record through 47 games (23-15-9).

"We're happy where we are and we want to keep going," Nylander said. "Knowing we're in a playoff spot at the All-Star break is nice, but we want to build off that."

The Flyers (25-19-6) won a third game in a row for the first time since their 10-game win streak in mid-December.

"You win 10 games in a row, that draws a lot of attention," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "You go through a tough stretch after, and that draws a lot of attention. But I'll be honest. The highs weren't really that high, and the lows weren't really that low."

Thanks to killing off nearly six minutes in penalties and a spectacular move by Simmonds, the Flyers entered the second period with a 1-0 lead.

Philadelphia had just killed off defenseman Ivan Provorov's double minor for high sticking when Toronto defenseman Matt Hunwick fanned on a backhand keep-in attempt at the offensive blue line.

That allowed Simmonds to win a footrace to the puck and accelerate in on McElhinney, beating him with a toe drag and a snap shot. The goal was the 21st of the season for Simmonds, who didn't score his 21st goal last season until Feb. 16.

Both teams traded chances early in the second period, with McElhinney snaring a scoring chance away from Jakub Voracek and Flyers defenseman Mark Streit blocking a scoring opportunity by Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.

The Maple Leafs tied it with 4:25 remaining in the second period when Nylander fought through traffic to score his 10th goal of the season on his own rebound. Nylander took a slick centering pass from Nazem Kadri and snapped a shot on Neuvirth. The puck lay precariously in the crease, and Nylander knifed between Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and forward Nick Cousins to net his first goal in seven games.

NOTES: The Flyers return from the All-Star break on Tuesday night when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes. After that, they open February with five straight home games. The Maple Leafs are also off until Tuesday when they continue a stretch of six straight games on the road, beginning at Dallas. ... At 19, C Auston Matthews will be the youngest Maple Leaf to appear in an NHL All-Star Game since Wendel Clark in 1985-86. ... RW Wayne Simmonds will represent the Flyers in Los Angeles. It will mark his first All-Star Game in the city where he began his NHL career as a second-round draft pick of the Kings. ... Despite posting shutouts on Wednesday night, Flyers G Steve Mason and Leafs G Frederik Andersen were rested in the final game before the break. .... D Frank Corrado, LW Josh Leivo and injured D Morgan Rielly were scratched for Toronto. D Michael Del Zotto (lower body), D Nick Schultz and RW Dale Weise were scratched for Philadelphia.