(Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to halt their longest
losing streak of the season when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs in
tonight's Eastern Conference clash at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers are in the midst of an 0-2-1 stretch, marking the club's lengthiest
skid since it went 0-3-2 from March 31-April 8 of last season. Philadelphia
has just four wins over its last 11 contests (4-4-3) and is now just two
points ahead of New Jersey and Pittsburgh for second in the Atlantic Division
and the fourth seed in the East.
Philadelphia's offense was frustrated time and time again in Tuesday's 1-0
home loss to the New York Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 45-of-45 shots
through overtime for the Isles and then stopped both Flyers participants in
the shootout. Frans Nielsen and John Tavares both tallied in the shootout to
make Nabokov's amazing performance stand up for the win.
After stopping all 18 shots in regulation and overtime, Flyers netminder Ilya
Bryzgalov was beat by Nielsen on a fake to the backhand that was lifted high.
After Danny Briere missed for Philadelphia, Tavares blew a wrister by
Bryzgalov and Nabokov sealed the win when he made a right pad save on Wayne
Simmonds' backhand offering.
Bryzgalov posted his second shutout of the season and 25th of his career in
the losing effort.
"We didn't score tonight," said Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette.
"There was traffic there at times, but not always. You are cycling the puck
and you need bodies to cycle the puck. You can't do it with one man. There
were opportunities where we did have guys, it just didn't go."
The Flyers, who trail the New York Rangers by four points for first in the
Atlantic, are playing the middle test of a three-game homestand tonight and
are 12-8-5 as the host this year. Philly will complete the residency when they
welcome the Rangers on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Toronto enters tonight as the seventh seed in the East and is
trailing Philadelphia by just five points in the East standings. The Maple
Leafs had won three straight and posted a six-game point streak (5-0-1) before
dropping a regulation decision Tuesday in Winnipeg.
Bryan Little scored the eventual game-winning goal midway through the second
period to lift the Jets to a 2-1 win over the Leafs.
Phil Kessel tallied in his third consecutive game for Toronto, giving him 30
goals on the season -- six shy of his career-best total with Boston in
2008-09. Jonas Gustavsson stopped 27-of-29 shots in the loss.
"They did a good job in their zone, but we didn't direct enough pucks towards
the net. We were trying to make an extra play, extra pass, things like that,"
Toronto head coach Ron Wilson said.
Toronto killed off two penalties on Tuesday and has now gone 16 straight games
without allowing a power-play goal, the longest such streak in the league
since the Chicago Blackhawks went 19 consecutive games without surrendering a
power-play tally in 1969-70.
The Leafs are 12-12-2 on the road this year compared to a 16-8-4 record at
home. After tonight's test, Toronto will return home to host the rival
Canadiens on Saturday before heading back out on a three-game trip.
The Flyers have taken two straight and six of seven overall in the series
against Toronto and the Leafs have lost six of seven in Philadelphia.
Tonight's test marks the second time brothers Luke and Brayden Schenn will
play against each other. Luke is a defenseman for the Leafs and Brayden is a
forward for the Flyers.
The Sports Network