Leafs Vs. Flyers 3/7/10

The Maole Leafs and the Flyers are set to tangle in Toronto.

Toronto Maple Leafs (20-32-9-3) at Philadelphia Flyers (33-26-2-2)

NHL Hockey: Sunday March 7, 2010 7 PM EST

The Odds

The Eastern Conference basement dwelling Toronto Maple Leafs look to win consecutive games as they continue their road trip in the City of Brotherly Love to take on the Flyers.

The Maple Leafs currently sit 15^th in the Eastern Conference and despite their disappointing season, they always seem to  show up in the big games, with a perfect example coming in last night’s 2-1 shootout win over their arch rivals from Ottawa.  The game had a little bit of everything with some spectacular goals, impressive goaltending, and a couple of heavyweight fights that has re-energized the battle of Ontario that seems to have lost some spark in recent years. Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs, they don’t play the Ottawa Senators every game of the season. The Leafs will look to continue their escape from a top 2 draft pick with a victory in Philadelphia tonight.

Philadelphia enters tonight’s action in 6^th place in the Eastern Conference, which sets up a first round playoff bout with the defensive oriented Buffalo Sabres. The Flyers have had an up and down season as they failed to live up to preseason expectations as an Eastern Conference powerhouse, and were in discussions as potentially missing the postseason altogether. However, a home-and-home sweep of the New Jersey Devils prior to the Olympic break was a massive confidence booster for the Flyers, who look to make a serious push at the Eastern crown, and will look to put themselves into a playoff hosting seed with a string of victories.

As mentioned, the Leafs are coming off an emotional win over the Ottawa Senators in what was a hard fought defensive battle that needed extra time to determine a winner. The Flyers are coming in with a day’s rest after losing a heartbreaker to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday, and will look to avenge a 7-3 thumping at the hands of the surging Tampa Bay Lightning. From a momentum standpoint, the Leafs look like a decent play despite playing in back to back nights after a tough game against a divisional opponent, especially with the Flyers coming off consecutive losses. However, this Flyers club is too talented to lose games against inferior opponents, and this Leafs team can’t seem to beat anybody with the exception of the Ottawa Senators. Despite a full overhaul of their roster, this is the same team that lost to the Edmonton Oilers during their horrendous 1-22 stretch.

The Leafs are in a back to back situation, however Philadelphia has been giving up goals left, right, and centre. I would usually suggest a play on the under with these two teams especially in a back to back for the Leafs, but I will stay away from it as I anticipate the Flyers to make a statement in this game. Philly takes this one 4-1.

Kyle’s Pick: Philadelphia Flyers

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment