Maple Leafs at Flyers
THE STORY: The Philadelphia Flyers will have to avoid looking in the rearview mirror when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. Several teams are closing in on the Flyers for both their second spot in the Atlantic Division and fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. This is the second of four meetings between the two teams this season, with the Flyers skating to a 4-2 win at home on Oct. 24.
TV: 7 p.m. ET. TSN, NHLN-US (HD), CSN-Philadelphia
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (28-20-6): Toronto, which is 6-3-1 in its last 10 games, is coming off a 2-1 road loss to the Winnipeg Jets. All-Star Phil Kessel scored his 30th goal, a feat he has achieved in three straight seasons for the Maple Leafs. The loss halted a three-game winning streak for Toronto, which currently sits in seventh spot in the East. Toronto is just five points behind the Flyers in the pack that also includes the New Jersey Devils (65 points), Pittsburgh Penguins (65 points) and Ottawa Senators (61 points.)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (30-16-7): Philadelphia suffered its third straight loss with a 1-0 shootout setback at home to the New York Islanders on Tuesday. Ilya Bryzgalov made 18 saves for his second shutout of the season and 25th career. Bryzgalov, who has struggled at times for the Flyers, has yet to lose in regulation in 2012 (4-0-3). All three losses have come in shootouts. Bryzgalov has stopped 75 of 77 shots in his last four games.
OVERTIME:
1. Kessel has four goals and three assists in his last three games.
2. Jaromir Jagr and All-Star Scott Hartnell had a two goals and an assist apiece in the first meeting with Toronto.
3. Toronto has one loss in regulation in its last seven games (5-1-1).