The Flyers drafted and traded James Van Riemsdyk, who has 13 goals and 15 assists this season for Toronto.
By Sam Bush
After a disappointing loss at home to Florida on Thursday night, the Flyers are leaving the country to right their sinking ship.
Good luck with that.
They meet the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, which is not only looking for their league-leading 15th straight home victory but have another incentive after losing to lowly Carolina on Thursday.
Toronto (19-10-3) had won six consecutive games before Thursday’s 4-1 loss — a stretch including quality wins over Vancouver, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Detroit (twice) due in large part to phenomenal goaltending.
Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer combined for a league-best .956 save percentage Dec. 6-16 and allowed 1.67 goals per game.
”I don’t think we were mentally ready to go out and play the type of game that was required. Simple as that.”
Philly has failed to string together much success, proven again by its just-completed four-game homestand. After knocking off New Jersey and Carolina, the Flyers fell to Tampa Bay on Tuesday and in a shootout to Florida on Thursday.
They scored once in each loss after totaling nine goals in the two wins.
“We gotta stay positive in this locker room,” captain Claude Giroux told the team’s official site. “If we do, we’re gonna start winning. We’re gonna start believing that we are a playoff team and when we do, we’re gonna be pretty dangerous.”
The Flyers saw their streak of eight games with a power-play goal come to an end Thursday. They rank near the top of the league with 25 goals on the power play but own one of the worst penalty-kill percentages at 75.5.
Goaltender Steve Mason suffered an upper-body injury during Friday’s practice and will miss Saturday’s game for the Flyers. Starting in his place will be Ray Emery, who beat the Devils 4-1 in his last start Dec. 11 after losing his previous four behind a 4.35 goals-against average.
He’ll face the NHL’s top offense as the Maple Leafs average 3.38 goals.
Toronto won the first two meetings last season before losing 4-2 in Philadelphia on March 28.
