Flyers-Leafs: Game 30 Preview

The Philadelphia Flyers will need to prove they didn't leave success in Western Canada as they try for their first home win in over a month against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

By Dan Heaning, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

After pulling their rears out of the fire in Western Canada, the Philadelphia Flyers will need to prove their success wasn't left in British Columbia as the Orange and Black return home to face one of the East's best teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs, tonight at 7 p.m. from the Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers were beneficiaries of good fortune out west as they played a Vancouver team without Bo Horvat, an Edmonton Oilers team missing multiple defensemen and their starting goaltender and a Calgary team that was playing poorly going into their contest with Philadelphia.

The Fly Guys will receive more of that luck again tonight as Toronto center and burgeoning superstar Auston Matthews missed the Leafs' last game against Edmonton on Sunday and will not play again tonight. With one of the best players in the league potentially out for the game, the Flyers will also welcome back Radko Gudas to the lineup as his 10-game suspension for trying to decapitate Matthieu Perrault has ended.

It should be interesting to see which Leafs team arrives in Philadelphia. After running and gunning in the first few weeks of the season, Toronto head coach Mike Babcock has tried everything in his power to reduce the mistakes of his young club and focus on defense. The result may well be a defensive struggle between two squads struggling to defend. If that is the case, Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol will definitely not be averse to it.

Team Leaders

In his last three outings, Brian Elliott has stopped 103 of 108 shots. During that stretch, Elliott has posted save percentages of .956, .923 and .973. Elliott's string of great play allowed the Flyers to collect a rare sweep of Western Canada. On the season, Elliott has 13 Quality Starts and three Really Bad Starts and has steadily raised his goals saved above average from a negative to the positive territory. Elliott's strong play couldn't come sooner as with Michal Neuvirth's injury, the team will likely live or die with Elliott for the foreseeable future. The Flyers will need Elliott to remain red hot against a Toronto Maple Leafs team that is formidable offensively even without Matthews.

Despite criticisms from the Canadian media, Frederik Andersen is turning in one heck of a hockey season so far. While perhaps leaky at times, Andersen is playing more than any other goaltender. With that workload, Andersen has the most saves, faced the most shots and allowed the most goals in the NHL. Despite allowing the most tallies, he has produced a goals saved above average of 9.13 and leads the league in goalie point shares with six. Andersen has been hung out to dry by his young team's defensive lapses, particularly in the beginning of the season. However, in his last five outings, Andersen has posted save percentages of .950, .911, .923, .979 and .917. Look for the Leafs goaltender to be on top of his game again tonight.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Brandon Manning has a hand injury and is expected to miss three to four weeks, Michal Neuvirth is out one to two weeks with a leg injury, Jori Lehtera is sick and is unlikely to return to the lineup

Scratches: Mark Alt (healthy)