Winners in two of their last three games, the Philadelphia Flyers visit Scotiabank Arena to battle the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Tuesday night, the Flyers secured their first victory versus the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-3. Travis Konecny, Morgan Frost, and Owen Tippett all accounted for goals in the win.
Today, Philadelphia faces the Maple Leafs for the second time this season. They’ll meet three times in 2022-2023. Felix Sandstrom notched a loss in the first clash, 5-2.
The Flyers are searching for their second consecutive victory. They hadn’t strung back-to-back wins since November 8th, 2022, versus the St. Louis Blues. The Maple Leafs had a four-game winning streak recently. Sheldon Keefe is 1-0-0 when the puck drops at 2pm in 2022-2023. John Tortorella is 0-2-0 in daytime games, both 1pm faceoffs.
Today, two teams representing different ends of the NHL standings go head-to-head. Toronto is 3rd in the NHL standings with 46 points, tied with the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils. Philadelphia ranks 26th in the NHL standings with 29 points, matching the Vancouver Canucks. Tortorella isn’t a stranger to coaching his lineup to victories over the elite teams in the league, playing closely against the Devils, Vegas Golden Knights, and Hurricanes. Can his team rally on the road and win consecutive games?
Toronto Maple Leafs (20-7-6)
Ilya Samsonov (9-3-0, 1.98GAA, 92.9%SV) will start versus the Flyers. He’ll be looking for double-digit victories for the first time as a goaltender for the Maple Leafs.
Here’s the tentative lineup for Toronto:
Bunting-Matthews-Nylander
Jarnkrok-Tavares-Marner
Kerfoot-Kampf-Engvall
Hunt-Holmberg-Anderson
Giordano-Holl
Benn-Liljegren
Brodie-Timmins
Samsonov
(Murray)
William Nylander (19G, 17A) had the primary assist on a Michael Bunting goal in a 4-1 thrashing of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He added an empty-net goal with less than a minute remaining to send the home crowd home with a smile. Nylander was the only skater on the Maple Leafs to notch multiple points during the win. In sixteen games against Philadelphia, he totaled eight goals and assists, scoring at a point-per-game pace.
Conor Timmins (+1, 8HIT, 3TK, 58.8%CF) is getting acclimated with Toronto. About a month ago, the Arizona Coyotes traded him for Curtis Douglas, a fourth-round pick from the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. He’ll need to keep his head on a swivel versus the Flyers’ physical forwards.
Philadelphia Flyers (11-15-7)
Felix Sandstrom will not travel with the team due to an illness. The goaltenders available will be Carter Hart and Samuel Ersson. Hart (10-9-6, 2.82GAA, 91.2%SV) is the likely starter.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Flyers, per Charlie O’Connor:
van Riemsdyk-Frost-Tippett
Farabee-Cates, N-Konecny
Hayes-Laughton-MacEwen
Deslauriers-Brown-Allison
Provorov-Ristolainen
Sanheim-DeAngelo
York-Braun
Hart
(Ersson)
Owen Tippett (10G, 6A) is fresh off his second two-goal game of 2022-2023. His line with James van Riemsdyk and Morgan Frost cooked versus the Blue Jackets, accounting for most of the goals by Philadelphia in the victory. Earlier this season, he had a powerplay goal against the Maple Leafs.
Tony DeAngelo (-16, 39BLK, 25GV, 49%CF) had an average game in the defensive zone versus Columbus. He made a few defensive plays with his stick but didn’t avoid turnover traps, leaving Hart to dry. DeAngelo also helps drive the powerplay, quarterbacking the first unit while Cam York commands the second.
Place Your Bets
Maple Leafs moneyline (-320)
William Nylander anytime goal (+135)
Owen Tippett anytime goal (+350)
Tony DeAngelo o.5pts (+140)
Game Information
The puck drops at 2pm. You can watch the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on NBC Sports Philadelphia and listen to the radio broadcast on 97.5 the Fanatic.
(Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)
