Philadelphia Flyers (17-18-4) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (25-13-2)
When: Sunday, 7 p.m., Scotiabank Arena
TV: SNO Radio: The Fan 590
Odds: Flyers +117, Maple Leafs -145
The Buzz
The Flyers practised in Toronto on Saturday and are ending a stretch of six consecutive road games. Coming off a 5-2 loss on Thursday in Vegas against the Golden Knights, Philadelphia is 2-3-0 in its past five and has been outscored 18-16 … Forward Matvei Michkov has gone cold after a terrific start, but still leads National Hockey League rookies with 29 points (12 goals and 17 assists) in 37 games. The 20-year-old Michkov has just two points in his past 10 games, and both were in a 5-4 loss against the Kings in Los Angeles on Dec. 29 … Coach John Tortorella’s group has allowed 96 goals at five-on-five. Only Pittsburgh (104) and San Jose (97) have given up more at five-on-five … Flyers centre Scott Laughton is bound to get lots of interest before the March 7 NHL trade deadline, including, possibly, from the Leafs. The 30-year-old Oakville native remains productive and has an affordable cap hit of $3 million US through the 2025-26 season … Travis Konecny leads the Flyers with 43 points in 39 games, putting him on pace for 90. His career-high is 68 points, done last season … TheLeafs are 4-4-1 in the second game of back-to-back sets. The game marks the end of five weekends in a row that Toronto played back-to-back … It’s the first of three meetings between the teams, and they’ll clash again on Tuesday in Philadelphia. The Flyers will be back in Toronto on March 25.
The Quote
“It’s going to be a good test for us. Looking forward to it. It has been a long road trip and hopefully finish it off on a strong note.”
— Flyers defenceman Travis Sanheim
The Poll
What Maple Leafs/Flyers moment resonates with you the most?
The Projected Leafs Lineup
Forwards
Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty-John Tavares-William Nylander
Bobby McMann-Max Domi-Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz-David Kampf-Connor Dewar
Defence
Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev
Morgan Rielly-Philippe Myers
Simon Benoit—Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Goal
Dennis Hildeby
Joseph Woll
The Injuries
TOR: G Anthony Stolarz (knee), F Calle Jarnkrok (groin), D Jani Hakanpaa (knee).
PHI: G Samuel Ersson (lower body), F Nicolas Deslauriers (upper body).
The Prediction
The Leafs, coming off a big win against the Boston Bruins, take care of a lesser opponent. 5-1 Toronto.