Two of the Philadelphia Flyers’ additions are paying off handsomely through the first 10 games of the season.
The Flyers look to ride Trevor Zegras and Dan Vladar to another victory Saturday when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Acquired in an offseason trade with the Anaheim Ducks, Zegras leads Philadelphia in assists (eight) and points (12). He scored twice and set up another goal Thursday in a 4-1 triumph over the Nashville Predators.
“I just try to play a good game every time I go out there and feed off my teammates that are doing the right things,” said Zegras, who has four goals and three assists in the last three games — all Flyers wins.
Meanwhile, Vladar seems right at home in Philadelphia as the free-agent acquisition is 4-2-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average. He likely will start Saturday as Samuel Ersson deals with a lower-body injury.
“He was great (against Nashville),” Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said of the 28-year-old goaltender. “He was the difference-maker. We were kind of asleep for a couple periods, and he was our smelling salt. He was really good.”
The Flyers have won five straight home games and are 6-1-0 at home this season.
“I think we’re just excited to play in front of these fans,” defenseman Jamie Drysdale said. “They’re unbelievable, they give us a lot of energy. We’ve just got to build off that and we have been. It has been a fun stretch.”
Toronto isn’t having quite as much fun these days. The team dropped a 6-3 decision against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, after which coach Craig Berube criticized the players for sloppiness and a lack of focus.
“If you don’t take care of the puck and don’t take care of certain teams’ tendencies, you can get burned by it,” said Berube, who coached the Flyers from 2013-15. “That is what happened tonight. It is attention to detail, understanding situations and understanding the positioning of where you should be. We just didn’t have it enough tonight. We got burned.”
The loss to Columbus soured a sweet moment for John Tavares, who scored his 500th career goal in the defeat. Tavares, who has spent his entire career in the Eastern Conference, has scored 28 goals in 58 career games against the Flyers.
“You play this game to win as a team, and it’s all about the team,” Tavares said. “You’d like to have had it make more of an impact in the game. But for sure, in the days ahead and moments ahead, I’ll appreciate it more.”
This is the first of three meetings this season between the Leafs and Flyers, who will not meet again until Jan. 8. Toronto won all three matchups last season and was 11-1-0 against Philadelphia over the last four years, giving the team hope that it can break out of its slump Saturday.
“That’s on us to correct those (mistakes) and support each other all throughout the ice,” Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said. “And not give up those bad mistakes because you play good teams and it ends up in the back of your net.”
