The Toronto Maple Leafs took on the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (Jan. 5) in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena hoping to pick up a win. They were coming off a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday (Jan. 4) while the Flyers were coming off a 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday (Jan. 2). In an entertaining battle between two Eastern Conference teams, the Maple Leafs came out on top with a 3-2 victory in overtime. Here are three takeaways from the close matchup.
Hildeby Stands Tall
The Maple Leafs have had some injury issues between the pipes this season with Joseph Woll dealing with some small issues and Anthony Stolarz suffering an injury that will keep him out for at least another couple weeks. With that in mind, they have used Matt Murray between the pipes hoping he could find his way back to a full-time spot in the NHL, but on Sunday, it was Dennis Hildeby who stood tall and stole the show.
Hildeby stopped 30 of 32 shots en route to their overtime victory, helping backstop the Maple Leafs who were outshot 32-25. Hildeby, who is just 23 years old and in his rookie campaign, has four games played this season and has won three of them, posting a 3.23 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .892 save percentage (SV%). Without question, Hildeby was one of their best players and he seems to be showing signs of being a future starter in the NHL.
Matthew Knies Scores Yet Again
In their game against the Bruins, Matthew Knies stole the show notching his first career hat trick and adding two assists while being an impressive +6. On Sunday, Knies scored yet again notching his 15th goal of the season and his fourth in just the previous two games. With that goal, he has tied his career-high that he reached last season, and with plenty of games left this season, he may double his previous best of 15.
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Knies, who is just 22 years old, has just 122 games under his belt. In that time, he has scored 30 goals and added 31 assists for 61 points which comes out to a 0.5 points-per-game average. While he maintains a strong defensive game, his elite play as of late could be a sign of what Maple Leaf fans can expect as his career moves forward.
Faceoff & Physical Dominance Stands Out
One stat that stands out from the matchup was the pure dominance from the Maple Leafs in the faceoff circle. While 55 faceoffs were taken, they won 37 of them, coming out to 67.3%. On top of that, the Maple Leafs outhit the Flyers 43-33 and had five players have five or more hits. Simon Benoit finished the night with seven hits, Connor Dewar had six, while Knies, Philippe Myers, and Steven Lorentz all had five.
While those two stats aren’t focused on by many fans, they’re important and directly impact momentum on a nightly basis. The fact the Flyers were only able to win 18 faceoffs is ridiculous, and the dominance from the Maple Leafs helped them get an edge. Physical play always benefits a team too, so to have over 40 hits is a good night.
The Maple Leafs and Flyers play each other again on Tuesday (Jan. 7) and we will see if the outcome is any different. That will be the second of three matchups they have against each other this season.
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