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Flyers Must Be Defensively Sound vs Red Hot Maple Leafs Offense

By Benjamin Gabrych

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 9: Trevor Moore #42 of the Toronto Maple Leafs battles against Carsen Twarynski #81 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Matt Niskanen #15 in front of Brian Elliott #37 during the third period at the Scotiabank Arena on November 9, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 9: Trevor Moore #42 of the Toronto Maple Leafs battles against Carsen Twarynski #81 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Matt Niskanen #15 in front of Brian Elliott #37 during the third period at the Scotiabank Arena on November 9, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia Flyers will need to be extra aware in the defensive zone as they take on gifted Toronto Maple Leafs offense.

After defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday, the Philadelphia Flyers should be well-rested as they begin a three-game homestand against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Philly will hope to extend their point streak to seven while earning their fifth straight victory when all is said and done this evening and start the month of December off on the right foot. The Maple Leafs have been pretty darn good themselves recently, winning four of their last five games after snapping a six-game losing skid on November 21st.

This is a different Toronto team than the one Philadelphia saw back in the middle of November, as they’ve been excellent in the offensive zone since firing former Head Coach and noted horrible human-being Mike Babcock on November 20th. Since then, the Maple Leafs have netted 17 goals in their last four games, which averages out to just over four per contest. That’s what I like to call “good”; you can thank me for that ground-breaking analysis later. Though the sample size is tiny, I’ve liked what Sheldon Keefe has done with the team so far and even wanted the Flyers to hire him this past offseason. I’m now happy with the job Alain Vigneault has done in his first season since, but he and the entire Orange and Black roster will have their work cut out for them trying to defend this offensive juggernaut.

Carter Hart is set to get the start for the Fly Guys in-net and will hope to mimic the 33 save performance he had against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. He’ll also aim for his third-straight victory, which would be one shy of tying his season-high of four he posted to start November. The Leafs certainly won’t make it easy on the young goaltender so he and the Flyers defense as a whole needs to step up between the pipes and in their own zone.

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Puck drop is set for 7 pm EST. If you aren’t attending the game in person, it can be seen on NBC Sports Philadelphia, TVA Sports, TSN 4, and ESPN+, which has a free 7-day trial that includes live streaming for this game on all your smart devices! Besides NHL games, ESPN+ features a selection of live games from MLB, MLS, Serie A, FA Cup, and EFL. Get in on the action with Live UFC Fight Nights, 30+ Top Rank Boxing cards, Grand Slam tennis from Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open.

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