Tonight, the Leafs will host the Philadelphia Flyers at the Scotiabank Arena. It will be a back-to-back contest and 3rd game in 4 nights for both teams, as we reach a heavy part of the NHL schedule before the Christmas holidays.

As mentioned in the title, since it is a back-to-back, both teams will likely be playing their backups: former Marlies goalie tandem Garret Sparks and Calvin Pickard.

The Leafs carried four goalies into training camp, all of whom had to go through waivers if they were to be assigned to the Marlies. The team decided that Sparks was their choice to back up Frederik Andersen, and waived Pickard and McElhinney. The latter was picked up by the Carolina Hurricanes, who have had goalie issues for a long time, and who the Leafs faced and lost to on Wednesday while McElhinney was in net.

For Pickard, he was claimed by the Flyers, who the Leafs now face. Neither team is likely to have much of a morning skate today, after playing last night, so the lines will have to be assumptions.

Normally, we’d expect the goalie who played last night to sit, but with Pickard earning a shutout against the New York Rangers last night, it’s possible that Dave Hakstol will ask him to go again.