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The Toronto Maple Leafs return to home ice for the first time in nearly two weeks, as a club looking internally for answers after playing like a team with no direction on a five-game Western road swing. The Leafs take on the Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday, a club expected to be in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes but that has overachieved early on under veteran head coach John Tortorella.
The Flyers are 5-2-2 on the season and lost 1-0 in overtime to New York at Madison Square Garden with Carter Hart in goal, which likely means that Toronto will get backup Felix Sandstrom in the second of back-to-back games.
That should be an advantage for the Leafs, but they have made it a habit of playing down to their competition, with four of their six losses to bottom dwellers Montreal, Arizona, San Jose, and Anaheim.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that the Leafs blueline will receive some reinforcements prior to Saturday’s contest with Boston, as Timothy Liljegren is eligible to come off LTIR on Friday. For the Flyers, Keefe has been forced to split the top pairing of Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie to provide stability to two defensive pairings.
"It's really just a matter of how the other pairing check out frankly. We've got a mix of guys here right now, we're trying to find the right mix. Rielly and Brodie, we like a lot, but we've just found a way that some of the other pairs were going that we needed to stabilize ourselves a little bit defensively." Keefe said. "With only one right-handed shot defenseman, it's not ideal for us to have Brodie, who is the most comfortable on his off side as a lefty than to not have him on the right side. It creates some challenges for us, but we just feel that he really could help Justin Holl. That's been a good pairing for us not only the other night in Anaheim, which is kind of why we went with it, but last season, those guys did quite well together."
Rielly will play alongside Victor Mete and veteran Mark Giordano with play with Rasmus Sandin.
Pontus Holmberg is slated to make his NHL debut after getting recalled from the Toronto Marlies on Tuesday. Holmberg had two assists in seven AHL games and will play with fellow Swedes Pierre Engvall and Calle Jarnkrok, in part because it will make communication between the 23-year-old and his linemates easier.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Nick Robertson are healthy scratches. Robertson played protected minutes on the bottom six in Los Angeles and Anaheim, which defeats the purpose of having the offensively gifted youngster up in the NHL.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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