The Philadelphia Flyers (6-3-1) continue their homestand on Saturday when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs (5-5-1) at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Philadelphia is coming off a 4-1 win against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, where it received a big night from newcomers Trevor Zegras and Dan Vladar. The Flyers have won their last five home games, with Zegras riding a seven-game home point streak.
Speaking of Zegras, he has eight points in the team’s past five games, with four goals and four assists.
Toronto comes into Philly after a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jackets on Wednesday. Toronto is 1-3-1 in their previous five games.
Scott Laughton makes his return to Philadelphia, though it seems unlikely that he draws into the lineup. He was a full participant at Toronto’s practice on Friday, but Leafs head coach Craig Berube said the former Flyer is doubtful. Not to mention, he was one of the last Leafs off the ice at morning skate.
The puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. EST at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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Flyers Lines & Pairs vs. Maple Leafs
Forwards
Owen Tippett – Trevor Zegras – Matvei Michkov
Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Rodrigo Abols – Jacob Gaucher – Garnet Hathaway
Defensemen
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula – Noah Juulsen
Goaltenders
Dan Vladar
Aleksei Kolosov
Special Teams
PP1: Drysdale, Couturier, Michkov, Tippett, Konecny
PP2: York, Cates, Zegras, Foerster, Brink
PK1: Couturier, Konecny, Seeler, Sanheim
PK 2: Dvorak, Hathaway,York, Juulsen
Things to Watch
Sean Couturier was tabbed as a game-time decision by head coach Rick Tocchet. He was at Flyers morning skate in a regular contact jersey, but when it came to line rushes, he was out. It seems more likely than not that Jacob Gaucher will draw into the lineup and make his season debut.
On Gaucher, Tocchet said he wanted a big right-shot center to come up in case Couturier could not play, which ruled out someone like Karsen Dorwart. Tocchet also mentioned that Emil Andrae will return soon.
As for other Flyers drawing back in, Nikita Grebenkin will play after being a healthy scratch the previous two contests. He was with Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny during morning skate. I’d keep an eye on him to see if he can generate some offense against his former team.
Dan Vladar will be making back-to-back starts once again. With the Flyers opening a back-to-back, Vladar gets Toronto, a more challenging matchup than the Calgary Flames, whom the team plays on Sunday. Tocchet did not rule out giving Vladar both games, but said it always depends on the workload in the game prior.
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Previous Matchups
The Flyers’ luck vs. the Maple Leafs was not great last season, with a record of 0-2-1 against the Leafs in 2024-25. Sean Couturier led the Flyers in points against Toronto last season with three, a goal, and two assists. Travis Konecny led the team in goals with two, which both came in the one game in Philadelphia (which happened to be my first official game on the Flyers beat).
John Tavares had seven points against the Flyers last season with three goals and four assists. Auston Matthews is tied with Tavares for the lead in assists against the Flyers.
Toronto outscored the Flyers 13-6 in their three games last season, carried by the Leafs’ seven goals in the series finale.
How to Watch Flyers vs. Maple Leafs
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, ESPN+ (Stream)
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
The puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. EST at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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