These three players stood out the most in the Philadelphia Flyers vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Hoping to kick off a three-game homestand with a win, the Philadelphia Flyers took on the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers were coming off a 4-3 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils and aimed to go on their third winning streak of the 2019-20 season. Brian Elliott got the start in-net and opposed Frederick Anderson on the other end of the ice. Anderson was coming off of a less than stellar performance against the Washington Capitals, allowing four goals on 33 shots, making it crucial for the Flyers offense to take advantage and pile the shots on the seven-year vet.
Philadelphia was extremely fortunate to be tied at one with the Leafs at the end of the first, thanks in large part to a friendly deflection on an Ivan Provorov point-shot on the power-play. Their Canadian adversary completely dominated them for most of the frame, carrying a 12-to-5 shots-on-goal (SOG) advantage into the second, and applying a suffocating forecheck that the Flyers struggled to handle. This was highlighted by Kasperi Kapanen making Travis Sanheim notably fall to the ice in the second consecutive game, as he used his speed to blow by the Flyers blue-liner and go top-shelf on Elliott for the goal.
Claude Giroux quickly put his team up by one in the middle stanza, scoring the Flyers’ second power-play goal of the night in doing so. The Captain made a beautiful move to cut towards the front of the net and snuck the puck past Anderson on the short side. Toronto would eventually get that goal back, though, as Sanheim accidentally put the puck in his own net while attempting to clear it from the crease, giving noted elderly man Jason Spezza his first goal of 2019-20.
The 2014 First Round pick redeemed himself to start the third, though, netting his first goal of the year to put the Flyers up 3-2. Sanheim did a solid job using his skating ability to create the initial chance while following his own rebound to bury the puck into the back of the net on the backhand. Mitch Marner went on to tie things back up for Toronto, exploiting a Philadelphia turnover in the neutral zone and scoring on a wraparound. The Flyers would need extras for the second straight night to decide a winner and lost in a shootout this time around, as Andreas Johnsson scored in the 11th round.
Among the players who stood out to me in this game, Joel Farabee was the one who shined most in my eyes. The 19-year-old winger was all over the ice, consistently finding himself in primal areas to generate dangerous chances. This was especially true in the second period, where Farabee led the team in Scoring Chances For percentage with a lofty 83.33% through 40 minutes. I’m honestly shocked he failed to register a point in the evening but if he keeps producing like this, they should come in waves.
Another guy who’s game I liked was Kevin Hayes. The seven-year, 50 million dollar man was up to his old tricks, using his body to protect the puck from the opposition and eventually set up teammates for opportunities at the net. Hayes also put on an excellent performance while the Flyers were shorthanded, generating a 2-on-1 break and nearly capitalizing on it as he just put his shot wide. Acquiring the 6’5 centerman over the offseason has paid dividends for Philadelphia so far, giving them another player who can shine in both ends down the middle.
Finally, Matt Niskanen also had himself a decent game. Yes, he did allow Marner to get that wraparound chance to tie everything up in the third, but it’s Mitch freaking Marner we’re talking about. Almost every defenseman in the NHL would’ve struggled to keep up with the Maple Leaf forward on that play. Outside of that, the former Washington Capital made a couple of crucial blocks down the stretch to help send the game to OT and beyond.
The Flyers are now 6-5-2 on the year. Next game is Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.