Freddie ready with the broom
Buds goalie targets Scotiabank sweep
Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen will be going for the homestand sweep this weekend.
A week after his 11-round shootout victory in Philadelphia started the ball rolling on a threegame win streak, Andersen and the Maple Leafs will look for a win over the Flyers in Toronto.
The question is, which team will give Andersen more of a challenge? The visitors or the Leafs, whose slow starts have increased their reliance on his heroics?
Meanwhile, Flyers winger Travis Konecny has been an industrious player, showing several sides to his game against Toronto and again in Thursday’s home overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Here are five things to watch for when the Flyers and Leafs line up in Toronto on Saturday:
1. Orange crush
The Flyers must have sore hands from banging on the door so often of late. Forty regulation and overtime shots against the Leafs last week, 43 more against Carey Price on Thursday, all producing just five goals. But they also scored four on just 24 shots in a mid-week tilt against the Hurricanes. Coach Alain Vigneault saw that close loss to the Leafs as a sign of coming success, and he’s been proven right so far this week.
2.
Tonight’s menu special
The Leafs insist they’ll unclog the pipes on their power play, but after the well-schooled Golden Knights easily defused five of the first six on Thursday, that remains to be seen. The Flyers have a pretty good penalty kill unit, too. And how about the former Broad Street Bullies not taking one penalty on Thursday, just the sixth time that’s happened in 50 years? 3. Last casting call
This game and Sunday’s in Chicago will be important for Leafs fourth liners who want to stay on the main roster when Zach Hyman’s return necessitates cuts. It’s unknown if Jason Spezza will get back in. He had his best game of the year against the Flyers, but Nick Shore won eight of 13 draws versus Vegas. The Flyers are getting good shifts from their fourth line, too.
4. Gotta have Hart
Brian Elliott played well in net against Toronto last week, but Carter Hart is Philly’s future and the young Albertan would relish a Hockey Night In Canada spotlight. He lost a 5-4 home game to Toronto last season.
5. Closing numbers
The Flyers rank first in the Eastern Conference in third-period goals with 23.
LIGHTNING STRIKE FIRST IN STOCKHOLM
Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde all scored goals to help the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in the first of two meetings this weekend at the NHL Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning, who won in regulation time for just the second time since Oct. 15.
Sam Reinhart scored twice for the Sabres, who have lost four straight.
Lance Hornby with files from Reuters