2. OR FOUR FOR THEM?
The Maple Leafs are also currently riding a three-game winning streak, posting three consecutive one-goal wins... It is their fourth win streak of three-games or more this season, but have only one four-game winning streak this season (a six-game streak from Nov. 6-18)... While the Flyers begin a homestand, the Maple Leafs kick off a three-game set on the road which is part of a larger string of seven of their next eight games away from Toronto.. The Leafs have had recent success away from the ACC, going 6-1-1 in there last seven games on the road.
3. CLOSE CALLS
This is the second of three meetings against the Leafs and first of two on home ice... The last four meetings in Philly with the Maple Leafs have all been one-goal games with the Flyers coming out with a 2-1-1 mark... The Flyers won the first meeting, 4-2 in Toronto and are looking for their second win of the season series against the Maple Leafs for the first time in two seasons and second time in the last five seasons... Toronto could be without star center Auston Matthews, who missed Sunday's game with an upper-body injury - without Matthews, however, the Maple Leafs are a perfect 5-0-0.
4. BEST BEHAVIOR
Tonight's matchup will see the best of teams on opposite ends of the spectrum at even strength play... The Maple Leafs lead the NHL in even strength (5 on 5) goals with 73, while the Flyers lead the NHL in fewest goals allowed at even strength (5 on 5) with 43... Recently, the Flyers have been successful on both sides of special teams... The club has recorded a power-play goal in each of the last three games (4-for-13) and have allowed just two just two power play opportunities in each of their last four games - Dating back to their last five games, the Flyers have killed off 11 straight times shorthanded... The Leafs have killed off 14 of their last 16 penalties in their last six outings, but have struggled on the man advantage, going scoreless in their last nine opportunities of the span of their last four games.
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (LW: #12 - Michael Raffl)
Raffl continues to be the man with the hot hand as he rides a three-game point streak and a three-game goals-scoring streak into tonight... He has also recorded three straight game-winning goals, which makes him tied with eight Flyers for the most in franchise history - only two players in NHL history have recorded four consecutive game-winning goals (MTL: Newsy Lalonde, 5 games in 1921 & OTT: Daniel Alfredsson, 4 games in 2007). He is two games shy of 300 in his NHL career, tonight being his 299th NHL game, and one point shy of 100 career points in the NHL (56g-43a).
MAPLE LEAFS (C: #29 - William Nylander)
Nylander is tied for third on the team with 21 points and second in assists with 16 helpers... He is also second on the squad in plus-minus at +12... Despite that, Nylander has just one assist in his last four games but is back centering the second line with Zach Hyman and Connor Brown... Nylander also loves playing against the Flyers - he has five points (3g-2a) in five games.
