"Philadelphia Flyers 48 pts (20-16-8)
vs
Toronto Maple Leafs 54 pts (25-17-4)
7 p.m. ET
Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, PA
TV: Sportsnet Ontario
Radio: TSN 1050 AM
Season Series/Schedule
Date Game GWG
28-Oct PHI 4 @ TOR 2 Valtteri Flippula
12-Dec TOR 2 @ PHI 4 Sean Couturier
18-Jan TOR @ PHI
Team Leaders
Maple Leafs Flyers
Auston Matthews, 33 Points Claude Giroux, 54
Matthews/van Riemsdyk, 19 Goals Sean Couturier, 25
Rielly/Marner, 26 Assists Jakub Voracek, 45
There should be more energy than usual inside the Wells Fargo Center tonight as Eric Lindros will become the just the sixth player in Flyers history to have his number retired before the puck drops. Lindros had 11 goals and 22 points in 33 games as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the 2005-06 season.
The Maple Leafs need to figure out a way to right the ship as they enter tonight's game on a three-game losing streak, including Tuesday night's heartbreaker versus the St. Louis Blues. The Leafs are also looking to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Flyers, who won both of the first two meetings by a 4-2 score.
The Flyers had their four-game winning streak snapped with an embarrassing 5-1 loss at the New York Rangers on Tuesday, so they should be playing with quite a bit of emotion as they are in the thick of the wild card chase.
Mike Babcock held an optional skate this morning which was attended by Andreas Borgman, Josh Leivo and Dominic Moore meaning we will see the same lineup we saw versus the Blues. Frederik Andersen will start in goal and will be opposed by backup Michal Neuvirth.
The Leafs have gone to overtime in four of the last five games, with a split decision. Tonight would be a good night to find a way to get the extra goal in regulation and avoid 3-on-3 altogether.
Probable Maple Leafs Lineups
FORWARDS
Zach Hyman - Auston Matthews - William Nylander
Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - Leo Komarov
James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Mitch Marner
Matt Martin - Trevor Moore - Connor Brown
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner - Connor Carrick
Travis Dermott - Roman Polak
GOALTENDER
Frederik Andersen (22-13-2, 2.67 GAA, .922 save %, 3 SO)
INJURY REPORT
LW-Joffrey Lupul (sports hernia), RW-Nikita Soshnikov (lower-body) out, D-Nikita Zaitsev (lower-body) out
Probable Flyers Lineup
FORWARDS
Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl - Valtteri Filppula - Jakub Voracek
Jordan Weal - Nolan Patrick - Wayne Simmonds
Jori Lehtera - Scott Laughton – Tyrell Goulbourne
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Ivan Provorov - Shayne Gostisbehere
Robert Hagg - Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning - Radko Gudas
GOALTENDER
Michal Neuvirth (3-5-1, 2.39 GAA, .923 save %, 1 SO)
INJURY REPORT
None"
