5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Maple Leafs

Interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (21-35-11) return home to the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday evening to host Sheldon Keefe's Toronto Maple Leafs (43-19-5).Game time is 7:00 p.m. (NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic).

This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season and the second and final game in Philadelphia. The season series will conclude on April 19 at Scotiabank Arena.
Back on Nov. 10, the Flyers dropped a 3-0 home decision to Toronto. After a scoreless and fairly evenly played first period, the Flyers controlled the majority of the play in the second period but found themselves trailing, 1-0, after a William Nylander goal at the 11:11 mark. In the third period, the Leafs pulled away as Nylander notched a power play goal and Ondrej Kase padded the lead to three goals with 6:27 remaining. Jack Campbell notched a 36-save shutout while Carter Hart stopped 30 of 33 shots in a losing cause.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 1-4-0 road trip. On Tuesday in St. Paul, the Flyers lost a 4-1 decision to the Minnesota Wild. The Wild dominated roughly 29 of the opening 40 minutes in building a 4-0 lead. In the third period, a Morgan Frost power play goal ended Marc-Andre Fleury's shutout bid. The Flyers drew no closer. Martin Jones took the loss despite making 33 saves.
The Maple Leafs blew out the visiting Winnipeg Jets, 7-3, on Thursday evening after trailing 2-0 in the first period and 3-2 early in the second period. The game was highlighted by Auston Matthews notching his 50th goal of the season, Nylander tallying a pair of power play goals (25th and 26th), and John Tavares scoring his 23rd goal of the season. The Leafs also got a shorthanded goal from Ilya Mikheyev (15th) and a late power play marker from Timothy Liljegren (2nd).
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1. Attard's NHL Debut: Who Will Be His Partner?
Drafted by the Flyers in the third round (72nd overall) in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, defenseman Ronnie Attard signed with the organization on April 29 after his Western Michigan University team was eliminated from the NCAA's Frozen Four playoffs. The right-handed blueliner will make his NHL debut in Saturday's game.
The 23-year-old Attard compiled 13 goals and 36 points in 39 collegiate games this season. He brings to the table a very heavy shot, good size (6-foot-3, 208 pounds) and decent skating. He has improved significantly as a defender over three college seasons.
It remains to be seen who will be Attard's defense partner in Saturday's game: Nick Seeler or Keith Yandle?
Yandle, who holds the NHL's record ironman streak with 989 consecutive regular season games played, missed Thursday's practice due to illness. On Friday, Yandle returned to the ice but Nick Seeler was paired with Attard. Yandle skated with Kevin Connauton on the "fourth" pairing.
Could Yandle's record streak come to an end on Saturday? Yeo was noncommittal after Friday's practice. He noted that the team has several players who are banged up in addition to Yandle being under the weather. The final decision will be made on Saturday morning.
Likewise, the goalie rotation for the team's back-to-back games this weekend (the Flyers are right back in action on Sunday when they play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden) had yet to be decided after Friday's practice.
Carter Hart missed Tuesday's game and Thursday's practice due to a minor but nagging injury. The Flyers recalled Felix Sandström on an emergency basis. Hart returned to practice on Friday, and Sandström was returned to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Hart and Jones will split the two starts this weekend. The question is which goalie will start against the Maple Leafs and which one will get the Rangers. That decision will be made on Saturday morning.
2. Farabee in the Middle
Over the course of the Flyers' recent five-game road trip, lifelong winger Joel Farabee was moved to center. The 22-year-old did not look out of place and seemed to relish the challenge. Additionally, over his last 16 games played, Farabee has collected 14 points (4g, 10a).
Scott Laughton, who is equally comfortable at center or left wing, has been cleared to return to play from a concussion he suffered back on March 10. Laughton has been pressing Yeo to get back in the lineup. It is possible that Laughton could return this weekend. Sunday's game against the Rangers is perhaps a little higher possibility than the Leafs game.
In the meantime, veteran fourth-liner Nate Thompson will return to the lineup on Saturday after rehabbing from shoulder surgery. He last played on Nov. 26. Patrick Brown could move over to left wing -- or Thompson could play left wing with Brown in the middle -- with Zack MacEwen on the right side.
Left winger Oskar Lindblom, who missed the March 24 game in St. Louis and took a maintenance day on Thursday, is one of the Flyers players who has been dealing with a nagging undisclosed injury. He returned to practice on Friday on a line with Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny.
3. Inside the Numbers
The high-scoring Maple Leafs rank 3rd in the NHL offensively, averaging 3.73 goals per game. Coming off their three power play goals against Winnipeg last game, the Maple Leafs lifted their season success rate to a robust 30 percent; tops in the entire league. At 5-on-5, only the Florida Panthers (183) have scored more goals than the Maple Leafs (167) this season. Last but not least, Toronto leads the NHL with 11 shorthanded goals including four by Mikheyev.
Defensively, the Leafs rank 17th in the 32-team NHL with a 3.03 goals against average. At 5-on-5, Toronto ranks an unimpressive 22nd with 151 goals allowed (two more than the 21st-ranked Flyers). However, the Maple Leafs' penalty kill enters this game ranked 6th in the NHL at 83.7 percent success. The Flyers are ranked 24th at 75.4 percent.
The last time the Flyers played Toronto, Philly did well from a puck possession standpoint -- an area that has more typically been a trouble spot for the team this season -- but ended up getting shut out. They generated a lot of shot quantity but not enough quality. Nonetheless, the basic process was along the right lines.
To pull off an upset of the Maple Leafs in this game, the Flyers will need to be disciplined both in terms of puck management and staying out of the penalty box. They'll also need to get more pucks and bodies to the areas below and between the dots and be opportunistic when the Leafs turn the puck over. It's a daunting task but the recent 5-2 win over St. Louis is a good blueprint.

4. Behind Enemy Lines: Toronto Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs have posted a 6-3-1 record over the last 10 games and have won four of their last five. Toronto, which has gone 18-12-3 on the road this season, enters this game in third place in the Atlantic Division.
If the season ended today, the Maple Leafs would play the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs. The Leafs will visit Tampa on Monday. Saturday's game against the Flyers is a potential "trap game" scenario for Keefe's club.
The Maple Leafs have had goaltending issues at times this season, both in terms of injuries and streakiness. The team got good news earlier this week when NHL All-Star Game selection Campbell (24-9-4, 2.64 GAA, .914 SV%) was medically cleared to return from a rib injury. Former Flyers goalie Petr Mrazek (12-6-0, 3.34 GAA, .888 SV%) flopped this season for the Leafs and is also out for six weeks due to injury. That means Erik Källgren (4-2-1, 2.71 GAA, .906 SV%) is now second on the depth chart. Last game, veteran Michael Hutchinson (2 GP) backed up Källgren while the team was awaiting Campbell's return.
In terms of skaters, the Maple Leafs remain packed with forward skill and depth: Matthews, Mitch Marner, Tavares, Nylander, etc. The blueline was bolstered at the trade deadline with the addition of former Calgary and Seattle captain Mark Giordano.
5. Players to Watch: Atkinson and Marner
Especially given the recent trade of longtime captain Claude Giroux, the Flyers will need a big game from key veterans such as team leading scorer Cam Atkinson (23 goals, 50 points) and Kevin Hayes. Atkinson has always been a streak scorer. He has three assists in his last five games but is seven games removed from his most recent goal. Dating back to the NHL All-Star break, Travis Konecny leads the Flyers with 18 points (4g, 14a) in 21 games. Hayes started the recent road trip with five points (0g, 5a) over the first three games but just one point (1a) over the final three games and his line was on the ice for five opposition goals at even strength.
When it comes to the Maple Leafs' attack, pick your poison. Marner has been scorching hot of late, with 11 points (2g, 9a) over the last five games. Matthews has scored four times in the last five. Tavares has six points (3g, 3a) over his last four games. Defenseman Morgan Rielly (2g, 4a) has racked up six points over the last three games. Giordano notched a goal and an assist in the Winnipeg game. Overall, Toronto has a half-dozen players with 50 or more points this season including Michael Bunting (20g, 31a).