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Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (22-12-7) are home on Thursday to Craig Berube’s Toronto Maple Leafs (20-15-7). The game marks the start of the statistical second half of the Flyers’ 2025-26 regular season.
This is the second of three meetings between the Eastern Conference teams this season. On November 1 in Philadelphia, the Flyers scored first but went on to lose by a 5-2 score.
The Flyers enter this game coming off an emotional and feisty 5-2 home victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. Trevor Zegras led the way offensively with his 16th and 17th goals of the season. Meanwhile, Toronto is coming off a 4-1 home win on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.
On Tuesday, the Flyers held a partial squad practice at the FTC in Voorhees. Roughly half the team practiced while the others rested from the grueling Anaheim game the previous night.
It’s no secret that the Maple Leafs have given the Flyers trouble in recent years. Dating back to Nov.10, 2021, the Flyers are 1-10-2 in head-to-head meetings with Toronto. The lone win came on March 19, 2024. In that game, the Flyers held on for a 4-3 victory after a 3-0 lead nearly slipped away.
Where to watch
Time and broadcast: 7:00 p.m. ET on NBCSP
Listen online: FlyersRadio 24/7
RAV4 keys to the game for Philadelphia: click here
In-game watch party (Maher Media): click here
Leading scorers: Flyers (through 41 games)
Trevor Zegras — 41 points (17g, 24a)
Travis Konecny — 37 points (13g, 24a)
Christian Dvorak — 26 points (9g, 17a)
Owen Tippett — 25 points (13g, 12a)
Noah Cates — 24 points (10g, 14a)
Sean Couturier — 24 points (5g, 19a)
Matvei Michkov — 23 points (9g, 14a)
Bobby Brink — 20 points (11g, 9a)
Travis Sanheim — 19 points (5, 14a)
Jamie Drysdale — 18 points (3g, 15a)
Cam York — 18 points (3g, 15a)
Goaltender stats
Dan Vladar — 25 GP, 16-6-3, 2.37 GAA, .910 SV%
Samuel Ersson — 15 GP, 6-5-4, 3.09 GAA, .868 SV%
Injury report: Flyers
- Tyson Foerster (right arm surgery) is likely out for the rest of the season. He has a five-month estimated timetable from December.
- Matvei Michkov (lower body) took a puck off his foot in the Edmonton game on Saturday. He missed Tuesday’s game against Anaheim but is expected to return against Toronto.
- Jamie Drysdale (upper body, possible concussion) left the Anaheim game early in the second period. He reports feeling better. The team hopes his absence is short-term. He has not officially been ruled out yet for the Toronto game but seems unlikely to play.
- Bobby Brink (upper body, possible concussion) left the Anaheim game after skating one shift in the first period. His status is identical to Drysdale’s. Brink told teammates that he feels much better. Nevertheless, he’s doubtful for Thursday.
Projected Flyers Lineup
The Flyers held practice at the FTC on Wednesday. Roughly half the team participated, including Michkov. The team will hold a 10:30 a.m. morning skate at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The projected lines below are a placeholder and will be updated as needed prior to game time.
Trevor Zegras- Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Carl Grundstrom – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Nikita Grebenkin – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen
Emil Andrae – Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]
Scratches: Nicolas Deslauriers (healthy), Jamie Drysdale (upper body), Bobby Brink (upper body)
Flyers Opponent: Toronto Maple Leafs
Leading scorers (through 42 games)
William Nylander — 41 points (14g, 27a) in 33 games
John Tavares –38 points (15g, 23a)
Matthew Knies — 38 points (12g, 26a)
Auston Matthews — 34 points (21g, 13a) in 36 games
Morgan Rielly — 26 points (5g, 21a, -13)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — 25 points (7g, 18a)
Bobby McMann — 23 points (13g, 10a)
Nicholas Robertson — 21 points (9g, 12a)
Max Domi — 19 points (4g, 15a, -12)
Nicolas Roy — 17 points (4g, 13a)
Matias Maccelli — 16 points (6g, 10a) in 31 games
Jake McCabe — 16 points (3g, 13a, +26)
Easton Cowan — 12 points (5g, 7a) in 31 games
Goaltender stats
Joseph Woll — 16 GP, 9-4-2, 2.69 GAA, .916 SV%
Dennis Hildeby — 15 GP, 3-5-4, 2.90 GAA, .914 SV%
Anthony Stolarz — 13 GP, 6-5-1, 3.51 GAA, .884 SV%
Injury report: Maple Leafs
- William Nylander is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Technically, he’s on IR retroactive to Dec. 27. However, he’s eligible to be activated at any time as long a roster move to clear a space accompanies it.
- Jake McCabe is day-to-day with a lower-body injury suffered this past Saturday against Toronto. He’s expected to miss roughly a week but will try to play as soon as possible.
- Tristan Jarry is on IR with a lower-body injury. Connor Ingram is backing up Pickard in Jarry’s absence.
- Chris Tanev (groin) is sidelined indefinely.
- Anthony Stolarz has been on IR since suffering an upper-body injury on Nov. 11. He remains sidelined.
- Dakota Mermis (lower body) remains on IR.
- Dakota Joshua (kidney) is on IR and sidelined indefinitely.
Projected lineup: Maple Leafs
Bobby McMann – Auston Matthews – Max Domi
Matias Macceli – John Tavares — Matthew Knies
Easton Cowan — Nicolas Roy — Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz — Scott Laugton – CalleJarnkrok
Morgan Rielly – Brandon Carlo
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit – Philippe Myers
Joseph Woll
Dennis Hildeby
Flyers Daily: Special guest Rick Tocchet
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet speaks at length with Jason Myrtetus about the state of the team at mid-season. He also talks about why he felt the team needed to sign Christian Dvorak to an extension (Tocchet believes the player is important to the internal culture that’s been put in place). Tocchet discusses what it’s been like to coach Trevor Zegras and his general strategy for managing the compacted pre-Olympic schedule with few upcoming off-days and limited practice time. Friday, however, will be a team-wide off day.
On Friday, Flyers general manager Daniel Briere will join Jason for a one-on-one interview. Jason has invited fans to submit questions for Briere, and will work several viewer-submitted queries into the interview. Post your questions here.
O&B Puckcast: Flyers at midseason
It was my pleasure to join Isiah, Chef and Dan Silver for a special Flyers midseason edition of the O&B Puckcast. We cover a wide variety of topics during the first hour of the show.
During the second half of the nearly two-hour program, the hosts are joined by Anthony DiMarco from Daily Faceoff. He gives his take on the Christian Dvorak five-year extension (he reported it was a done deal first among the national media). Anthony has also heard that the Flyers will at least listen to trade offers for Rasmus Ristolainen despite the club’s desire to push for the playoffs this season. DiMarco clarifies that the Flyers are not directly shopping Ristolainen. However, there’s a lot of interest in the Finnish Olympian among other teams. The Flyers will hear out proposals. (It still seems unlikely that Ristolainen gets dealt unless it’s an outrageous offer Philly can’t refuse).
Let’s Go Flyers