Cheese steak in town aka Philly

I'm sure we'd all love to forget the last game against the Canes. What looked like a comeback ended up being the worst game for the Leafs in this early season. They were simple outworked, outplayed and out skated. Babcock was not a happy camper with the team performance and i hope the players were not either. Freddy made some good saves, one really great save that will be a highlight of the year candidate I'm sure.

Today is a new day, its Saturday. And that means hokey night in Canada. Tonight's opponent is the Flyers. The Flyers are just 5-5-0 this year so far. Things to note about the Flyers is their number of shots on goal, which is 9th in the league with 33.3. This is something to watch for because the Leafs allow 33 shots against per game. On those 33 shots the Flyers score 3.4 goals per game while the Leafs allow 3.6 goals per game. So if you are expecting a tight, low scoring game to calm your nerves after the Carolina game, i would skip this game.

I do expect this game to be a better overall team game, especially by Freddy. His numbers are not very promising this year so far. But i am not one of those fans who jump all over Freddy because this team has been terrible in front of him, and the only reason they have been in some of these games is because Freddy has made some good stops. Can he be better yes. But the Leafs can be a lot better in front of him. If you are trying your best and you see the team in front of you playing well below the effort level you know they can play at, of course your own game is going to drop a level. Players feed off of each other, the team playing poorly in front of his net surely effects his game as well.

So as far as tonight goes i expect a 4-3 result, going either way, but of course I'm rooting for the boys in blue. Expect lots of shots on goal, battles in the face off circles with both teams at or a little better than 50%. The Leafs should hold the physical advantage with 22 hits per game while Philly is at 17 per game. Michal Neuvirth has a good SV% of .925 so that will be the test for the Leafs this game. Can they score, yes we know they can. But can they hold their opposition to less than 3 goal is going to be a key stat for this game. If they cannot i expect Philly to win.

So put your beer in the fridge now and stock up on some snack, i believe to nights game will be exciting and a closely battled match.

#standwitness