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Flyers Gameday: 12/3/19 vs. TOR

December 2, 2019, 9:12 PM ET [318 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
GAME 28: FLYERS vs. MAPLE LEAFS

Kicking off their December schedule with the first game of a three-game homestand, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (15-7-5) host Sheldon Keefe's Toronto Maple Leafs (13-11-4) on Tuesday night. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET.

The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.

This is the third and final meeting of the season series between the teams, and the second and final game in Philadelphia. Both of the previous two games were tied at the end of 65 minutes of hockey, and the winner determined a shootout.

On Nov. 2 in Philadelphia, the Leafs prevailed after 11 shootout rounds, 4-3 (2-1). On Nov. 9 in Toronto, the Flyers won, 4-3 (1-0), in three rounds.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers are 5-0-1 in their last six games with points in 11 of the last 13 (8-2-3). The team's 24 points in November (10-2-4) topped the NHL. 

On Saturday, the Flyers earned a 4-3 overtime road win against the Montreal Canadiens.

Based on Monday's practice combinations, Shayne Gostisbehere and Chris Stewart will be the healthy scratches.  Goalie Brian Elliott appeared to hurt his right hand during practice but returned to the net to finish the session.Carter Hart was already the projected starter for Tuesday's game.

Entering this game, the Flyers have averaged 3.04 goals per game with allowing 2.70 per game. The power play is at 19.8 percent and the penalty kill at 85.7 percent with two shorthanded goals. The team has won faceoffs at a 53.9 percent clip.

MAPLE LEAFS OUTLOOK

The Maple Leafs are 4-1-0 since Keefe replaced Mike Babcock behind the Toronto bench. The team has scored 20 goals in that span and allowed just 11. The penalty kill is 9-for-10 and the power play has clicked at a 37.5 percent rate in the five-game span.

Toronto's surge since the change behind the bench has pulled the club up into third place in the Atlantic Division (automatic playoff position if the season ended today). Most recently, the Leafs split a home-and-home set with the Buffalo Sabres.

After suffering the first loss of the Keefe regime on the front end, the Leafs earned a 2-1 overtime home win on Saturday, courtesy of stellar goaltending by  Frederik Andersen and a game-winning goal by John Tavares.

Entering this game, the Leafs have averaged 3.29 goals per game and allowed 3.31 per game. The power play comes in at 19.5 percent and the penalty kill at 75.0 percent. The team has won 52.7 percent of their faceoffs.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (subject to change)

FLYERS

28 Claude Giroux - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Joel Farabee
25 James van Riemsdyk - 12 Michael Raffl -18 Tyler Pitlick

9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
53 Shayne Gostisbehere- 5 Phil Myers

79 Carter Hart
[37 Brian Elliott]

Power Play 1: Giroux, JVR, Frost, Konecny, Provorov
Power Play 2: Couturier, Lindblom, Voracek, Sanheim, Niskanen

Scratches: 8 Robert Hägg (healthy), 44 Chris Stewart (healthy), 55 Sam Morin (torn ACL)
LTIR: 19 Nolan Patrick (migraines)

MAPLE LEAFS
18 Andreas Johnsson -  34 Auston Matthews  -  88 William Nylander
65 Ilya Mikheyev - 91 John Tavares -  11 Zach Hyman
61 Nic Petan -  15 Alexander Kerfoot -  24 Kasperi Kapanen
Pierre Engvall  - 31 Frederik Gauthier - 41 Nicholas Shore

44 Morgan Rielly -  83 Cody Ceci
8 Jake Muzzin -  3 Justin Holl
23 Travis Dermott -  94 Tyson Barrie

31 Frederik Andersen
[30 Michael Hutchinson]

Power Play 1: Nylander, Matthews, Tavares, Barrie, RiellyPower Play 2: Johnsson, Petan, Kapanen, Muzzin, Spezza
Scratches: 19 Jason Spezza (healthy).Injured reserve: 16 Mitch Marner (ankle), 42 Trevor Moore (shoulder).
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