After demolishing Cutter Gauthier and their new favorite rivals to play, the Philadelphia Flyers are hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that suffered a disastrous first half of the season but is slowly inching back into the playoff conversation.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: NBCSP
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 22-12-7 (3rd in Metro)
Goals: Trevor Zegras (17)
Assists: Trevor Zegras/Travis Konecny (24)
Points: Trevor Zegras (41)
Toronto Maple Leafs – 21-18-3 (3rd in Pacific)
Goals: Auston Matthews (21)
Assists: William Nylander (27)
Points: William Nylander (41)
Projected lineups
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Carl Grundstrom
Nikita Grebenkin– Rodrigo Abols — Garnet Hathaway
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler — Rasmus Ristolainen
Emil Andrae — Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Bobby McMann — Auston Matthews — Max Domi
Matias Maccelli — John Tavares — Matthew Knies
Easton Cowan — Nicolas Roy — Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz — Scott Laughton — Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly — Brandon Carlo
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit — Philippe Myers
Joseph Woll
(Dennis Hildeby)
Storylines to watch
Auston Matthews is looking like himself, oh no
The Leafs were having a disastrous start to their season and at the forefront was star captain Auston Matthews looking more like he wanted to be a mediocre version of Ryan O’Reilly instead of the Rocket Richard-winning center he’s been for the majority of his career. Well, he turned a corner and scored five goals in six games last week, which also led him to breaking Mats Sundin’s all-time goal scoring record for that franchise.
Well, now he has scored six goals in his last three games and really appears to be the dominant world-class center once again. Oh, perfect. Just in time for the Flyers to get their good vibes potentially crushed. Matthews will need to be addressed heavily by one of Sean Couturier or Noah Cates, while the other deals with the John Tavares-Matthew Knies partnership. It might just be the depth that can carry Philadelphia to a win.
No Brink or Drysdale, but no call-ups yet
Speaking of depth, it will be tested. After suffering two dirty and nasty hits against the Ducks that knocked them out of Tuesday’s game, both winger Bobby Brink and defenseman Jamie Drysdale will be absent. There was no update from head coach Rick Tocchet, other than they will be missing Thursday’s game against Toronto.
But due to the Flyers hanging around at home, there is no need to recall anyone from the AHL quite yet and will just have their regular extra skaters dress instead. The decision will need to be made eventually, if those two are out for an extended period of time, but for now they’ll just get their backups in.
Thanks to this, the Flyers’ depth will really be tested offensively. Matvei Michkov is thankfully back, but now Carl Grundstrom is up on the third line and Garnet Hathaway is once more playing a regular role alongside Rodrigo Abols and former Leafs prospect Nikita Grebenkin.
Dan Vladar starting again and roles could be cemented
Dan Vladar is getting the start once again and now Sam Ersson hasn’t appeared in a game since the Dec. 31 drubbing in Calgary where he let in five goals on 26 shots in a brutal 5-1 loss. This all forces us to ask the question: Has Vladar truly cemented his role as a starter even moreso?
Of course, we have already thought this earlier, but Ersson getting at least some regular appearances — had five since Dec. 13 — and now Vladar will be in the crease for three consecutive games. The dynamic seems to have at least been softly cemented.
