Fresh from a win over fierce rivals the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs return to action at Scotiabank Arena to face the Philadelphia Flyers in the second half of a weekend back-to-back.
The Leafs came out on top 6-4 in a nervy contest against the Bruins on Saturday night to make it three wins in a row after beating New York Islanders home and away either side of the new year.
There could be some tired legs among the Toronto contingent as a result, but although the visiting Flyers have had three days off since a 5-2 loss in Vegas, this is their sixth away game in a row and they would be forgiven for getting a little road weary.
That certainly looked to be the case against the Golden Knights, where small lapses were punished, and it could be a similar story in Toronto.
Both these sides are struggling for offense, but the big difference is that the Maple Leafs have been lights-out defensively.
Star goaltender Joseph Woll played Saturday, so Dennis Hildeby could get his first start since beating the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on December 15.
Meanwhile, the Flyers' first-choice in net Samuel Ersson remains injured so they will go with either Ivan Fedotov or Aleksei Kolosov, but all three have similar, unimpressive numbers.
The Leafs sit top of the Atlantic Division while Philadelphia are two points outside the playoff structure and their fixture list doesn't get any kinder for a while.
The Flyers have the third-worst defense in the Eastern Conference, and Toronto can stretch their win streak with a victory by at least a couple of goals.
With neither side in particularly great scoring form but question marks over both goalies, as well as the Flyers' defense in general, it is quite tricky to be confident of how many goals will be scored in this matchup. However, one play worth a look is for the Leafs to get on the board before 15 and a half minutes have been played.
Toronto have struck first in five straight games, but backing them to open the scoring is priced accordingly and the Flyers have made some sharp starts themselves, recently.
Jake McCabe got the Leafs off the mark after 3:29 on Saturday night, and while the bet would have been a loser in two tight clashes with the Islanders, Toronto took less than four minutes to score against the Capitals and Red Wings in their two prior contests.
Leafs captain Auston Matthews returned from a six-game injury absence against the Bruins and had a spectacular game.
He provided the primary assist on two of linemate Matthew Knies' three goals on the night, then put the cherry on the cake with a diving poke into the empty net in the final minute of the game.
Matthews ended the night with a +5 rating, and only hat-trick hero Knies bettered the captain's five shots on goal.
He played 17 and a half minutes against the Bruins, which is less ice time than Matthews usually gets, so he should see plenty of action. If turning out in the same form, Matthews could tear into the Flyers' lacklustre defense and add to his tally of 12 goals in 25 appearances for the season.
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PHI Flyers | +145 ML |
TOR Maple Leafs | -170 ML |
Puck Line | TOR -1.5 |
Total | O/U 6.5 |
Auston Matthews (TOR Maple Leafs) | +125 |
William Nylander (TOR Maple Leafs) | +145 |
Mitch Marner (TOR Maple Leafs) | +180 |
Travis Konecny (PHI Flyers) | +210 |
John Tavares (TOR Maple Leafs) | +200 |
Matvei Michkov (PHI Flyers) | +250 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.