Despite dropping 4 of 5 games on their western trip, the Philadelphia Flyers still came away with 4 points by the end. After another tough 5-2 defeat at Edmonton, the Flyers will look to bounce back against the worst team in the Metropolitan, the Columbus Blue Jackets, at home.
The Blue Jackets have been plagued by injuries that compound an already fractured group. Tonight is an incredible opportunity for the Flyers to get back on track against a much lesser team.
Bouncing Back
Frustrating, disappointing, and infuriating are all words you could use to describe the Flyers’ road trip that ended with a 1-2-2 record. Taking a step back, it is encouraging them to find ways of stealing points in games they may not have been able to. When we get a closer look at some of the surface level numbers, these games were closer than the record would leave you to believe.
Of their four losses, three were one-goal games, two of which ended in overtime. There were some serious defensive breakdowns and goaltending errors we are not accustomed to, and that may explain a big chunk of this. There are also a lot of kids in the lineup who have never played a full season of the NHL. It became clear that some of these kids’ play began to dip as a result of that fatigue. It’ll be up to them to see how they will right the ship moving forward.
Beating Columbus
The biggest area I hope to see the Flyers take advantage of would be the Blue Jackets at 5v5, who allow the 3rd-most goals on average across the league. Their power play is bad (but not Flyers bad), ranking 25th in the NHL, which is good news for the Flyers and their 4th-ranked penalty kill. The Blue Jackets’ penalty kill is passable at 14th-best in the league, but a far cry from the Flyers’ “power kill”.
The Blue Jackets are just simply not good. They are missing offensive contributors like Zach Werenski and Patrik Laine, and their starting goaltender Elvis Merzļikins is currently out of the mix. Things are messy here, and the Flyers should be prepared to take advantage of this.
PHI Record: 19-13-5, 43 pts, 4th in Metropolitan
CBJ Record: 12-19-8, 32 pts, 8th in Metropolitan
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 1/2/24, 5-2 L at Edmonton
Last Game CBJ: 1/2/24, 4-1 L vs. Boston
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (9-5-2, .902 SV%, 2.54 GAA, 2 SO)
CBJ Goalie: Daniil Tarasov (1-2-1, .877 SV%, 4.02 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#86 Joel Farabee – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#74 Owen Tippett – #25 Ryan Poehling – #10 Bobby Brink
#71 Tyson Foerster – #21 Scott Laughton – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #49 Rhett Gardner
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #26 Sean Walker
#5 Egor Zamula – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#18 Marc Staal
#33 Samuel Ersson
#79 Carter Hart
Scratches: #48 Morgan Frost, #89 Cam Atkinson
Injuries: #27 Noah Cates
CBJ Projected Lineup
#13 Johnny Gaudreau – #11 Adam Fantilli – #96 Jack Roslovic
#59 Yegor Chinakhov – #10 Dmitri Voronkov – #86 Kirill Marchenko
#91 Kent Johnson – #4 Cole Sillinger – #52 Emil Bemström
#42 Alexandre Texier – #17 Justin Danforth – #24 Mathieu Olivier
#78 Damon Severson – #9 Ivan Provorov
#22 Jake Bean – #55 David Jiříček
#23 Jake Christiansen – #44 Erik Gudbranson
#40 Daniil Tarasov
#30 Spencer Martin
Scratched: #2 Andrew Peeke, #16 Brendan Gaunce, #90 Elvis Merzļikins
Injured: #7 Sean Kuraly, #8 Zach Werenski, #27 Adam Boqvist, #29 Patrik Laine, #38 Boone Jenner, #77 Nick Blankenburg
News and Notes
– Both clubs suffered losses by 3 goals on Tuesday night, so expect both teams to play with a stronger emphasis on solid two-way play.
– Former Blue Jacket Cam Atkinson will be scratched for tonight’s game, going scoreless in his last 21 games played.
– Rhett Gardner will make his Flyers debut tonight. He signed a 2-year, 2-way deal on July 1st, 2023 and brings 40 games of NHL experience to the lineup.
– The Flyers are 14-9-1-1 against the Blue Jackets when playing at home.
– Philadelphia is currently 2-0-0 vs Columbus this year, winning 5-2 at home and 4-2 on the road.
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