MINI-PREVIEW

The Flyers (17-7-5) won't have much time to dwell on their horrific third-period collapse from last night. I don't imagine their late-night plane ride to Toronto was very pleasant; nor should it have been. Blowing a 3-goal lead in the final period is never acceptable, regardless of what happens in overtime or a shootout. The Flyers have been a flawed, ordinary hockey team of late, and the fact that they've won just 5 of their last 10 (5-2-3) speaks to the need for improvement in several key areas.

Tonight's opponent, the Toronto Maple Leafs (10-13-4) has won 4 of its last 10 games (4-5-1). They were cannon fodder for the red-hot Penguins last night. Given that the Flyers had to scramble to defeat the Devils and Islanders last weekend, are playing on back-to-back nights and have made almost an annual habit of at least one desultory loss to Toronto per season, this is a game Philly had better come ready to play. Back on Oct. 23, the Flyers cruised to a 5-2 win over the Leafs in Philly.

The biggest culprits in last night's loss were the Flyers poor performance on faceoffs (and subsequent coverage breakdowns), letdowns on special teams and undisciplined penalties. Let's also not forget that they gave up a goal in the final five seconds of the opening period, which is often a harbinger of bad things to come but was forgotten by the time the Flyers built a 4-1 lead. As far as the Mike Richards goal that came about 0.1 second after the overtime clock expired, it was the proper call.

Playing Toronto provides an opportunity for the Flyers to start correcting their special teams problems, especially on the power play. The Leafs have killed penalties at a miserable 76.2% rate, while their power play (15.6%) has been even less efficient than the Flyers' (16.0%).

For Toronto, there there conflicting sources as to whether defenseman Dion Phaneuf (left leg surgery) will be able to return tonight. NHL.com lists him as out tonight, but other sources say he could play. Jonas Gustavsson will get the start in goal while J-S Giguere (groin) is still day-to-day. I will post lineups in an update later today.

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