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Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (27-21-11) are are in Ontario on Monday to take on old friend Craig Berube’s Toronto Maple Leafs (27-24-9). With four days to go until the NHL trade deadline, the Flyers are coming off back-to-back victories. They need to build a significant winning streak to make up the gap in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between the Flyers and Maple Leafs. The Flyers are 0-1-1 in the two games against Toronto to date.
Philly enters this game coming off a rousing 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday afternoon. Goaltender Dan Vladar played brilliantly in carrying a shutout bid for 53 minutes. Meanwhile, after the game entered the third period in a scoreless deadlock, goals by Travis Konecny (23rd), Jamie Drysdale (6th) and Sean Couturier (ENG, 6th) supplied the offensive output. Konecny (1g, 1a), Drysdale (1g, 1a) and Christian Dvorak (2a) all finished with two-point games.
The Maple Leafs are 0-3-0 since the end of the Olympic break. On Saturday, the Leafs suffered a 5-2 home loss against the Ottawa Senators. Dylan Cousins had two goals and an assist for Ottawa.In a losing cause, Morgan Rielly (8th) and William Nylander (19th) scored goals for Toronto, for ex-Flyer Scott Laughton chipped in an assist. Starter Joseph Woll was pulled after allowing five goals on 28 shots. Former Flyers goalie Anthony Stolarz came on in relief during the latter part of the second period and stopped all 12 shots he faced.
Entering Monday’s game, the Flyers are seven points (six plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) out of a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. They are 11 points (10 plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) behind the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division but hold two games in hand.
Where to watch
Time and broadcast: 7:30 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 59 games)
Travis Konecny — 5 7points (23g, 34a)
Trevor Zegras — 50 points (21g, 29a)
Owen Tippett — 36 points (19g, 17a)
Christian Dvorak — 36 points (12g, 24a)
Matvei Michkov — 31 points (15g, 16a)
Noah Cates — 29 points (11g, 18a)
Sean Couturier — 28 points (6g, 22a)
Travis Sanheim — 26 points (6g, 20a)
Bobby Brink — 25 points (13g, 12a) in 53 games
Jamie Drysdale — 25 points (6g, 19a)
Cam York — 22 points (4g, 18a) in 52 games
Goaltender stats
Dan Vladar — 35 GP, 18-9-6, 2.42 GAA, .907 SV%
Samuel Ersson — 25 GP, 9-10-5, 3.44 GAA, .859 SV%
Aleksei Kolosov — 4 GP, 0-2-0, 4.00 GAA, .830 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.
- Rodrigo Abols (ankle) suffered an injury in the Jan. 17 game against the Rangers. He was placed on IR the next day.
Projected Flyers Lineup (subject to change)
The Flyers will hold an 11:30 a.m. EST morning skate in Toronto. Projected lines will be updated if necessary. The Flyers recalled defenseman Adam Ginning on Sunday. He had made the trip to Toronto with the team. On Saturday, rookie Denver Barkey was a healthy scratch in favor of Nicolas Deslaurieres.
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin — Carl Grundstrom — Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drydale
Nick Seeler — Emil Andrae
Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]
Scratches: Noah Juulsen (healthy), Nicolas Deslauriers (healthy), Adam Ginning (healthy).
Flyers Daily: Mondays with Meltzer
Join Jason Myretetus and me for a jam-packed edition of Mondays with Meltzer. It’s NHL trade deadline week as we discuss who stays, who goes and what possibilities may be out there to consider. Plus a look back at the Flyers return from the Olympic break and the play of Drysdale and Vlader in particular, Plus much more.
Flyers acquire Katchouk from the Wild
On Sunday, the Flyers acquired 27-year-old winger Boris Katchouk from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for 23-year-old AHL defenseman Roman Schmidt. Katchouk, originally a second-round pick by Tampa Bay in 2016, was once a promising young prospect as a member of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
At the junior level, Katchouk’s combination of size (6-foot-2, 212 pounds) and nose for the net made him a highly effective forward. He represented Team Canada at the 2017-18 World Junior Championship. With the Greyhounds, Katchouk (42 goals, 85 points) was one-third of a dynamic line with center Morgan Frost (112 points, CHL-best +70) and trade deadline acquisition Taylor Raddysh (28 games, 39 points after coming over from the Erie Otters).
As a pro, Katchouk has had trouble finding a regular role in the NHL (179 games). He has mostly been a 4th liner or spare forward for the Lightning (two stints), Chicago Blackhawks, and Ottawa Senators. He’s been traded twice this season , going from the the Senators to the Wild organization and now to the Flyers. Katchouk cleared waivers and spent eight AHL games with the Iowa Wild.
Katchouk will report to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He’s available to the Flyers as a depth recall.
Meanwhile, Schmidt has also been traded twice this season. He came to the Flyers/Phantoms from Tampa Bay in the Dec. 8 trade for offensive-minded defenseman Ethan Samson. The big-framed Schmidt (6-foot-5, 225 pounds), originally a US National Development Team Program product, failed to impress head coach John Snowden or Alyn McCauley in 16 games for Lehigh Valley.
