Team records:<\/strong> Tonight, 7:00 p.m. ET Desperate to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Leafs and Flyers both likely view tonight as a must-win at this juncture of the season. Including last night\u2019s victory over Florida, Toronto plays a whopping four games in five nights this week, so that stretch could make or break its season. <\/p>\n After surprising opponents with (a) a run-and-gun style and (b) horrible defense in the early months of the season, the Leafs are settling into what everyone thought they\u2019d be at the start of the year; a plucky defensive team that can\u2019t score. Toronto hasn\u2019t allowed more than three goals in its last eight games, largely thanks to improved play from Luke Schenn, Francois Beauchemin and Tomas Kaberle. The biggest influence has been Jonas \u201cThe Monster\u201d Gustavsson. The big Swedish netminder is breaking out. He posted a 1.86 goals against average and .928 save percentage in December and has 2.02\/.938 marks so far in January.<\/p>\n Were the Flyers just teasing us with their four-game winning streak to end 2009? They\u2019ve opened 2010 with two losses, the latest of which was a 7-4 embarrassment versus Ottawa. They looked sluggish at both ends of the ice and the top line of Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Claude Giroux was a combined -15. <\/p>\n We can possibly chalk the mini-slump up to a lengthy, six-game road trip. The Flyers haven\u2019t played a home game since December 21 and should be thrilled to finally host a contest tonight. Also, since they haven\u2019t played since Sunday whereas the Leafs played last night, Philly is the fresher team. <\/p>\n Bet on the rested Flyers to bust out tonight and beat Toronto down. <\/p>\n NHL Betting Trends:<\/strong><\/p>\n The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Toronto’s last 8 games
\nToronto: 15-19-9
\nPhiladelphia: 19-19-3<\/p>\n
\nSportsbook odds: Maple Leafs +155, Flyers -175 <\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nToronto is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games when playing Philadelphia
\nThe total has gone OVER in 8 of Toronto’s last 12 games on the road
\nThe total has gone UNDER in 6 of Toronto’s last 9 games when playing Philadelphia
\nThe total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia’s last 5 games at home
\nPhiladelphia is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
\nThe total has gone OVER in 4 of Philadelphia’s last 6 games
\nThe total has gone UNDER in 6 of Philadelphia’s last 9 games when playing Toronto<\/p>\n