After picking apart Arizona in a 6-2 final at the Wells Fargo Center, the Philadelphia Flyers host a team that doesn’t play in a college barn and sits 2nd in the Atlantic Division, and 4th overall in the entire league with. That of course, is the Toronto Maple Leafs. While their trouble exiting the first round has been well documented, they will not have as much difficulty leaving Broad Street with a tally in the win column.
Matt Murray, who will relieve Ilya Samsonov tonight, has been quite the redemption season this year and will be between the pipes tonight. Despite Carter Hart’s record not looking nearly as pretty, he still holds a higher Goals Saved Above expected at 12.3, sitting 7th among all goaltenders who have played at least 15 games, compared to Murray’s 20th place ranking in those standings, at 2.9.
It’s no secret Carter Hart has backpacked this team to varying degrees – especially if you were paying any attention to the first 10 games of the season. Matt Murray’s numbers could be a lot more impressive considering the high-end talent that competes in front of him, and being used as a relief, playing against the bottom half of the NHL more times than not. This is to say that Matt Murray is a very beatable goalie, and Toronto isn’t perfect.
The Maple Leafs have gone 5-4-1 in their last 10, compared to the Flyers’ 6-4-0. Their records over that time are not that dissimilar, and neither are their penalty kills. While Philadelphia’s PK is at 19th in the league, Toronto is only 2 spots above them at 17th, with a 0.1% difference. Don’t forget the Flyers came close to beating Toronto towards the end of December, that ended in a 4-3 loss at Scotiabank Arena. Now, the Flyers have an opportunity at revenge, and the best place to start is to make Murray uncomfortable by getting on the power play.
Auston Matthews and Travis Konecny are my players to watch tonight. Konecny has been on a tear, earning 6 goals through his last 5 games and racking up 10 points total along the 5 games played. Matthews has scored 4 goals and earned 6 points in total through 5 games. Yes, Auston Matthews is the better player, but right now Konecny has more goals than him (by one goal, lol), and has a better point production, collecting 1.21 points per game compared to Matthews’ 1.15 per game. This will not last, and TK will never be anything like this guy, but for right now, we can have fun with it.
PHI Record: 15-17-7, 37pts, 7th in Metropolitan
TOR Record: 24-9-7, 55pts, 2nd in Atlantic
Last Game PHI: 1/5/23, 6-2 W vs. Arizona
Last Game TOR : 1/7/23, 4-1 W vs. Detroit
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (11-11-6, 2.86 GAA, .911 SV%, 0 SO)
TOR Goalie: Matt Murray (9-4-2, 2.61 GAA, .913 SV%, 1 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#86 Joel Farabee – #49 Noah Cates – #11 Travis Konecny
#25 James van Riemsdyk – #48 Morgan Frost – #74 Owen Tippett
#13 Kevin Hayes – #21 Scott Laughton – #57 Wade Allison
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #38 Patrick Brown – #17 Zack MacEwen
#6 Travis Sanheim – #77 Tony DeAngelo
#9 Ivan Provorov – #45 Cam York
#24 Nick Seeler – #55 Rasmus Ristoainen
#79 Carter Hart
#33 Samuel Ersson
TOR Projected Lineup
#58 Michael Bunting – #34 Auston Matthews – #88 William Nylander
#19 Calle Järnkrok – #91 John Tavares – #Mitchell Marner
#15 Alex Kerfoot – #64 David Kämpf – #47 Pierre Engvall
#12 Zach Aston-Reese – #29 Pontus Holmberg – #20 Dryden Hunt
#44 Morgan Reilly – #78 T.J. Brodie
#55 Mark Giordano– #3 Justin Holl
#38 Rasmus Sandin – #37 Timothy Liljegren
#30 Matt Murray
#35 Ilya Samsonov
PHI Injuries: Cam Atkinson (neck), Sean Couturier (back), Ryan Ellis (hip), Tanner Lacyznski (lower-body)
Scratches: Justin Braun, Kieffer Bellows
TOR Injuries: Jake Muzzin (neck), Vitor Mete (upper body), Nicholas Roberston (shoulder)
Scratches: Wayne Simmonds, Jordie Benn, Conor Timmins
News and Notes:
–Even though he cannot play a full 82 games due to injury, Travis Konecny is technically on pace for 49.7 goals this year (20/30=.606 * 82), which is pretty bonkers considering his last season high was 24 goals through 66 games played. He is 4 goals away from tying this in 33 LESS games. #TORTSEFFECT
– Carter Hart recovered well after shaking off some rust on the 2nd goal against versus Arizona. The Flyers will need his 3rd period form to give themselves a chance tonight.
– Wayne Simmonds sits as a scratch, which really ticks me off because there’s a way to bring him back for cheap and allow him to play some games in a lost season. I know a lot of fans would buy a ticket to see him get some greasy ones and clean a couple clocks along the way.
– There’s work to be done, but the Flyers are doing more cool stuff to continue to honor Ed Snider and the legacy he left behind:
Broadcast Info: TV – NBC Sports Philadelphia, Radio – 97.5 The Fanatic
