Flyers at Maple Leafs
The Philadelphia Flyers appear to have put their disastrous spell in their rear-view mirror and are looking to repeat the feat of last year's late-season surge over the final few weeks of this campaign. The Flyers answered a dismal 2-6-1 stretch by collecting seven of a possible eight points in their last four games heading into Thursday's pivotal tilt against the host Toronto Maple Leafs.
"Every game is a playoff game and these two points are very important for us," defenseman Radko Gudas told Philly.com on the heels of scoring a goal, setting up two others and recording a career-high plus-5 rating in the Flyers' 6-3 romp over Buffalo on Tuesday. "The playoff push is on and we need every point we can get." Philadelphia's 3-0-1 mark in its last four has it three points behind the New York Islanders for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and two in back of a Toronto club that snapped a season-high five-game skid (0-2-3) with a 3-2 victory over Detroit. Nazem Kadri has scored in back-to-back contests and has six goals and an assist in his last 10 games. The 26-year-old scored and set up a goal in the Maple Leafs' 6-3 victory over the visiting Flyers on Nov. 5 and added an assist in a 2-1 setback in Philadelphia on Jan. 26.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, CSN Philadelphia, TVAS, Sportsnet Ontario (Toronto), NHL.TV
ABOUT THE FLYERS (31-26-8): Captain Claude Giroux was visibly relieved when he ended a 12-game goal drought by recording just his third tally in 30 games on Tuesday. "I stuck with it and it was good to get that goal," the 29-year-old Giroux told Philly.com. "... I think we've been playing well five-on-five, but it just hasn't gone in." Fellow Ontario native Wayne Simmonds can echo a similar sentiment on a much smaller scale after being held off the scoresheet in three straight games and five of the last six, but he has three of his team-leading 27 goals versus Toronto this season.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (29-22-14): James van Riemsdyk snapped a 14-game drought by scoring in the first period on Tuesday to reach the 20-goal plateau for the fourth time in his career. "We know where we're at in the standings, we're fighting for our lives," said the 27-year-old van Riemsdyk, who has six points (four goals, two assists) in 11 career encounters against the team with which he was selected with the second overall pick of the 2007 draft. Linemates Tyler Bozak and rookie Mitch Marner each had two assists versus the Red Wings, giving the former five points (one goal, four assists) in the past five games while the latter has 13 (four goals, nine assists) in his past 13.
OVERTIME
1. Toronto rookie C Auston Matthews (team-leading 31 goals, 55 points) has been held off the scoresheet in three consecutive contests.
2. Flyers G Steve Mason has yielded six goals in his last four games overall, matching the total allowed in his last meeting with the Maple Leafs.
3. Toronto rookie C William Nylander scored in his last meeting with Philadelphia and has an assist in four of his last five games overall