The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to extend their winning streak to four games in the final game of their three-game homestand against the Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday before embarking on a road-heavy schedule over the next five weeks. The Leafs will play their 12th out of 18 games at home tonight, but between Sunday in Chicago and December 14, they will play 13 of their next 16 games away from home.
In spite of moving back into the top three of the Atlantic Division with victories over the Flyers, Los Angeles, and Vegas this week, Toronto has not put forth complete efforts and relied heavily on goaltender Frederik Andersen, which will have to change for them to stay in the win column.
(We) don’t want to rely (on Freddy and) giving up point-blank chances and give teams a lot of chances on the power play. No question, we want to dictate the terms and have the momentum as much as we can.” Leafs captain John Tavares said on Saturday. “(We have) to defend well, not give second-and-third opportunities, have to put too much stress on our goaltending to have to really step up many times throughout the game.”
In October, Andersen registered all six of the Leafs wins, but had a 3.03 GAA (37th in the NHL) and a pedestrian .901 save percentage. In the three victories over Philadelphia, the Kings, and Golden Knights, the big Dane is 3-0-0, with a 1.60 GAA and .951 save percentage.
Head coach Mike Babcock will make no lineup changes against the Flyers, with Andersen making his fifth straight start. Forward Nic Petan was sent down to the AHL Marlies on Friday, but defenseman Martin Marincin remains with the club because Zach Hyman will not be activated until next week and because they want to carry an extra blueliner when they and the Marlies are on the road.
That luxury will not be available to Babcock when Hyman returns, as Marincin and a forward (Nick Shore, Jason Spezza or Dmytro Timashov) will have to be waived to fit Hyman’s salary under the cap.
Brian Elliott, who made 23 saves in the loss to Toronto last Saturday will be between the pipes for the Flyers.
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Leafs 2019 top pick Nick Robertson red-hot start to the OHL season has been derailed slightly, as the 18-year-old winger suffered a broken finger in a 5-3 Peterborough Petes win over Kingston on Tuesday.
Robertson is 7th in OHL scoring with 28 points and second behind Hamilton’s Arthur Kaliyev with 19 goals.
According to a report in Friday’s Peterborough Examiner, Robertson’s index finger was not displaced and the injury is not expected to keep him out of the Petes lineup for a significant period of time, which is a positive sign for the prospect’s chances of being selected for Team USA for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic.
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