The Toronto Maple Leafs are takin on the struggling Philadelphia Flyers for the second time in a week.
The Toronto Maple Leafs also visited Philadelphia last week where they won by a score of 6-2 and played one of their better games of the season.
Tonight's game, also on the road, will be even easier because John Tortorella is, once again, making it all about himself.
The Flyers are taking the idiotic step of healthy scratching their captain and best player tonight. It's a weird move because Couturier is their best player and has decent numbers this season. Maybe he isn't playing well lately, but you would think a legendary Flyers player, a captain, and a guy coming off two straight back surgeries would get some leeway.
Also, the Flyers collapsing and blowing their playoff spot shouldn't be surprise - their starting goalie is potentially going to jail and will most likely never play in the NHL again, while their best defenseman was traded at the deadline.
Seems harsh to be upset at your best player under these circumstances, but we are talking about John Tortorella here.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Flyers
The Leafs are going to be without several regulars tonight.
Mitch Marner remains on the side-lines with a high-ankle sprain, which seems to be the Leafs injury of choice this season.
Ilya Lyubushkin will miss the game with an undisclosed illness, meaning Simon Benoit will draw back into the lineup. The Leafs don't seem to have a top pairing anymore - they seem to just use Rielly, McCabe, Brodie and Liljegren as their top-four, regardless of who partners with whom.
Calle Jarnkrok has been moved to the LTIR and won't play until at least April.
The goalie will be Ilya Samsonov, who appears to be the Leafs #1 goalie right now. While that is fine based on his recent play, history tells us that this won't last. In my opnion, the Leafs are making a huge error in not getting Joseph Woll more games.
Not only does Woll need to shake the rust off from his three month absense, but he's just a better and more talented goalie. He's also been better all year long, and he's the future of this team.
Regardless of what happens, Ilya Samsonov isn't coming back to Toronto next season, and I maintain it was a mistake to stick with him now. Doesn't really matter who is playing tonight though since tomorrow the Leafs will play against and Woll will get his chance then.
The Leafs are playing a team that is making themselves worse on purpose, and they've got an Auston Matthews who seems due for a big game. They should have no problem handling the Flyers tonight.
The Atlantic Division Title seems out of reach, but anything is possible, so they've got to keep grinding.