Philadelphia @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 24, 2018 ) Philadelphia 0, Toronto 6

The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to snap out of a funk that has led to three losses in their last four games when they host the surging Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night. The Maple Leafs missed a chance to pick up ground on second-place Boston in the Atlantic Division after getting routed by Tampa Bay at home 6-2 on Monday and falling behind by five goals before suffering a 5-4 setback against Chicago two days later.

“We just have to figure it out,” Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen told reporters after Wednesday’s loss. “We don’t have to be concerned, but we have to realize that we have 12 games to figure out how well we want to come prepared for games. If we don’t, we’re going to be playing (a) very short (time) in the spring.” Andreas Johnsson led the way with a hat trick as the Maple Leafs rolled to a 6-0 victory in the first matchup this season against Philadelphia on Nov. 24, but the Flyers have been a different team of late with points in seven of their last nine contests (6-2-1). Philadelphia squandered a chance to move closer in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, remaining five points out after a 5-2 setback against Washington on Thursday. The Flyers will have third-leading scorer Jakub Voracek back in the lineup after the right wing served a two-game suspension for interference on New York Islanders’ defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia Plus, TSN4 (Toronto)

ABOUT THE FLYERS (34-28-8): Captain Claude Giroux recorded 12 of his team-leading 73 points in the last nine games and Sean Couturier has six of his 65 in the past six, but were kept off the scoresheet Thursday. Left wing James van Riemsdyk scored against Washington to give him six of his 21 tallies in the last nine games while center Scott Laughton registered his fourth goal in five contests. Rookie goalie Carter Hart was in net Thursday after missing three weeks with a lower-body injury, which likely means veteran Brian Elliott (5-1-1 in his last seven games) plays against Toronto.

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (42-23-5): Center John Tavares recorded three goals - pushing his season total to a career-high 39 - along with six assists in the last six games to pull within two of 700 points in his career. Mitch Marner had a pair of assists Wednesday and leads the team with 84 points while defenseman Morgan Rielly scored four of his 19 goals and six of his 67 points in the past six contests. Kasperi Kapanen (19 goals, 42 points) has missed the last two games with a concussion and fellow forward Zach Hyman (16, 32) sat out Thursday’s practice because of illness.

OVERTIME

1. Philadelphia F Travis Konecny was blanked Thursday, but has four goals and three assists in his last eight games.

2. Toronto C Auston Matthews has scored in back-to-back games and the 21-year-old is five away from 200 career points.

3. The Flyers are 0-for-12 on the power play in the last five games after coming up empty on four tries Tuesday.

PREDICTION: Maple Leafs 4, Flyers 2