Flyers-Maple Leafs: Game 28 Preview

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

November was a grueling month for the Flyers, but a great one with 10 wins and 24 points in the standings on a 16-game schedule. That is all in the past now as the calendar turns to December and the Flyers look to build on their recent run of success.

Their first opponent of December is a familiar one, a team they faced twice already during November. The Toronto Maple Leafs come back to Philadelphia for the final game of a three-game season series. The first two games went to a shootout with both teams getting one win.

Game time is at 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Toronto Maple Leafs	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	27	9	16	25	Auston Matthews	28	16	15	31
Sean Couturier	27	8	13	21	William Nylander	28	11	11	22
Jake Voracek	27	6	14	20	John Tavares	21	10	10	20
Claude Giroux	27	8	11	19	Morgan Rielly	28	3	17	20
Oskar Lindblom	27	11	7	18	Mitch Marner	18	4	14	18

Player to Watch
14 Sean Couturier	34 Auston Matthews
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P, +7	Last 5 Games: 2 G, 2 A, 4 P, E

Sean Couturier has points in four of the last five games, including a pair of goals. What may be more impressive is that Couturier is continuing to produce while being a plus-7 in that time, playing his typically reliable 200-foot game.

Auston Matthews has gone three games without a goal, something that is pretty uncommon for the elite scorer. He was held without a point in the meeting between the two teams in Philadelphia on Nov. 2 and had two assists against the Flyers on Nov. 9, but no goals in either game.

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	31 Frederik Andersen
17 GP, 8-5-3, 2.43 GAA, .906 SV%	21 GP, 13-5-3, 2.47 GAA, .921 SV%

Carter Hart's two starts during the Flyers four-game winning streak were very different. Against Vancouver last Monday, Hart saw limited action, making 16 saves on 17 shots in the 2-1 win. Against Detroit on Friday, Hart was constantly tested early and finished with 32 saves on 33 shots in the 6-1 victory. Hart is making his first start against the Maple Leafs this season

Frederik Andersen gets the start against the Flyers for the third time this season. Andersen is currently on a personal four-game winning streak that includes a 25-save shutout against Detroit last Wednesday and two games where he allowed one goal. Andersen made 37 saves in the win over the Flyers on Nov. 2 and 30 saves in the loss on Nov. 9.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nolan Patrick

Scratches: Chris Stewart, Robert Hagg

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
23 Oskar Lindblom	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
28 Claude Giroux	48 Morgan Frost	11 Travis Konecny
49 Joel Farabee	13 Kevin Hayes	21 Scott Laughton
25 James van Riemsdyk	12 Michael Raffl	18 Tyler Pitlick
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	61 Justin Braun
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	5 Phil Myers
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

The forward lines will remain the same despite the shuffling at the end of the last game in Montreal. Defensively, Robert Hagg was a regular part of the rotation at Monday's practice, but skated with the scratches at the optional morning skate on Tuesday, so he will remain out of the lineup.

Maple Leafs Projected Lineup

Injuries: Mitch Marner, Trevor Moore

Scratches: Nick Shore, Jason Spezza, Martin Marincin

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
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
47 Pierre Engvall	33 Frederik Gauthier	41 Dmytro Timashov
Defense
44 Morgan Rielly	83 Cody Ceci
8 Jake Muzzin	3 Justin Holl
23 Travis Dermott	94 Tyson Barrie
Goalie
31 Frederik Andersen	30 Michael Hutchinson

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (13th), Maple Leafs (14th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (3rd), Maple Leafs (T-27th)
Recent History vs. Maple Leafs
- Nov. 2, 2019 – Maple Leafs 4, Flyers 3 (F/SO) (at PHI)
- Nov. 9, 2019 – Flyers 3, Maple Leafs 2 (F/SO) (at TOR)
Flyers Leaders vs. Maple Leafs
- Claude Giroux – 36 GP, 12 G, 23 A, 35 P
- Scott Laughton – 10 GP, 2 G, 6 A, 8 P
- Travis Konecny – 11 GP, 3 G, 5 A, 8 P
- Shayne Gostisbehere – 14 GP, 4 G, 6 A, 10 P
- Carter Hart – 1 GP, 1-0-0, 3.69 GAA, .905 SV%

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic/97.3 ESPN

Flyers-Maple Leafs: Game 28 Preview

Kevin Durso

Kevin Durso

Kevin Durso

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