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Flyers Gameday: 2/16/18 @ CBJ |
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GAME 58 PREVIEW: FLYERS @ BLUE JACKETS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (28-19-10) are in Ohio on Friday to take on John Tortorella's Columbus Blue Jackets (29-24-4) at Nationwide Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. ET. The game will be locally televised on NBCSNP.
This is the second of four meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division teams, and the second and final game in Columbus. The scene will shift to Philadelphia for games at the Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 22 and March 15.
On Dec. 23 in Columbus, the Flyers dropped a 2-1 shootout decision to the Blue Jackets. The game marked the debut of second-year NHLer Travis Konecny on a line with Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux; a combination that has remained together since.
A late first-period power play goal by Seth Jones that pinballed off Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov and into the net was the only puck in regulation or overtime that got past Brian Elliott (35 saves). Oliver Bjorkstrand and Artemi Panarin earned the assists.
Provorov got the goal back at 3:56 of the second period. On the rush, Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier worked a go-and-go play. Couturier then passed to Claude Giroux, who fed the puck out to Provorov for a one-timer at the left point. Scoring his fifth goal of the season, Provorov's shot found the net behind Sergei Bobrovsky (30 saves).
The Flyers had a would-be late second period goal disallowed. At 18:21, Taylor Leier knocked the puck out of the air and into the net but his stick was well above the height of the crossbar.
The first two periods of the game were evenly played. Bobrovsky's best save was a breakaway denial of Giroux. Columbus controlled the play in the third period, outshooting the Flyers by a 15-6 mark, but Elliott nursed the game to OT. The Flyers had a 4-1 shot edge in the 3-on-3 sudden death but could not prevent the game from getting to the dreaded skills competition.
In the shootout, Cam Atkinson, Couturier, Panarin (missed the net) and Giroux all failed to score on their attempts. After Pierre-Luc Dubois scored in the top of the third round, Jakub Voracek was denied by Bobrovsky. The Flyers are 0-3 in shootouts this season. The Blue Jackets improved to 4-2.
Philly went 0-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Overtime and shootout losses have been all-too-common for the Flyers against Columbus in recent years, especially on the road. The Flyers are winless in their last 11 games in Columbus, dating all the way back to Dec. 13, 2005. Six of the losses have come after regulation.
Entering play on Friday, the Flyers and New Jersey Devils are in a points tie with both teams having played 57 games but the Flyers still hold third place (an automatic playoff spot) in the Metro Division via their 27-25 ROW tiebreaker advantage. The Flyers are four points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for second place in the Metro (a home-ice spot in the first round), with Philly holding two games in hand but Pittsburgh holding a 31-27 ROW tiebreaker edge.
Columbus enters play below the playoff cutoff line. The Blue Jackets are one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the lower wildcard seed and four points behind the Devils and Flyers. Columbus holds one game in hand over Carolina but has a 24-23 ROW disadvantage at present in the event of a points tie. The Hurricanes host the New York Islanders on Friday. Although the Islanders and Blue Jackets are tied with 62 points and the Isles currently have a 25-23 ROW advantage, the Blue Jackets have played two fewer games to date.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Philly is 4-0-1 in its last five games but 5-3-2 over the last 10. The club brings a 14-10-4 road record into Friday's tilt.
The Flyers had a golden opportunity on Tuesday night to close out a regulation win over the Devils and establish a five-point lead in the Metro standings. Instead, a late tying goal and a shootout loss narrowed the gap to two points. The Devils made those up on Thursday with the Flyers idle.
The Flyers held a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. They led 3-1 and, very briefly, 4-2 within the second period before taking a 4-3 edge to the locker room. The Flyers were not able to seal the deal in the third, and paid the price by coughing up a point in the standings.
Konecny (14th goal of the season), Scott Laughton (9th), Radko Gudas (2nd) and Giroux (power play, 19th) scored for the Flyers. Giroux (47th assist of the season), Shayne Gostisbehere (33rd and 34th assist), Michael Raffl (8th assist), Andrew MacDonald (9th assist), Jori Lehterä (4th assist), Dale Weise (3rd assist) and Jakub Voracek (54th assist) collected assists.
Michal Neuvirth had an uneven game in net. He let in a terrible first goal on a short-side shot as New Jersey briefly equalized the game at 1-1 early in the second period. Thereafter, while there were some adventurous plays, Neuvirth also authored numerous tough saves. He finished with 32 saves on 36 shots in regulation and OT, and stopped one of two shootout attempts. In the shootout, New Jersey's Keith Kinkaid denied Jordan Weal, Konecny and Voracek.
For the season, the Flyers have scored 2.95 goals per game (13th in the NHL) and have a team 2.84 GAA (tied for 14th). At five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 101 goals (22nd) and yielded 92 (4th fewest in the league).
On the power play, the Flyers rank tied for 7th at 21.6 percent (42-for-194) but have yielded nine shorthanded goals yielded (tied for 2nd most in the NHL). On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank tied for 28th (129-for-172, 75.0 percent). The Flyers have scored two shorthanded goals; one apiece for Scott Laughton and Wayne Simmonds.
BLUE JACKETS OUTLOOK
The Blue Jackets are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games but have won two of their last three games since dropping both ends of a home-and-home set against the Metro Division leading Washington Capitals. The team brings a 17-10-1 home record into Friday's tilt. Friday's game is the team's third game in four nights, albeit with an off-day on Thursday. The Flyers had an extra open night on the schedule since the game against New Jersey.
On Wednesday, the Blue Jackets fired 57 shots on net but came away with a 6-3 road loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Blue Jackets trailed 2-0 in the first period but Nick Foligno scored late in the first period and early in the second (12th and 13th goals of the season) to knot the score. The Maple Leafs re-established a two-goal lead as the middle frame progressed but Jack Johnson (3rd goal) got Columbus back within a goal heading into the third period. Foligno (13th assist of the season) got the primary helper to make it a three-point night for himself. The Maple Leafs pulled away in the third period.
With the Blue Jackets on the second half of a back-to-back, Joonas Korpisalo got the start against Toronto. He stopped 22 of 27 shots; the final Toronto goal was an empty netter. The Flyers will face Sergei Bobrovsky (24-18-4, 2.45 GAA, .920 SV%, 4 SO) on Friday.
Entering play on Friday, the Blue Jackets have averaged 2.60 goals per game (tied for 27th) and have a team 2.77 GAA (11th). At five-on-five, Columbus has scored 110 goals (tied for 12th) and yielded 104 (13th).
The Blue Jackets' lack of goals this year stem largely from their bottom-ranked power play, which clocks in at a league-worst 14.7 percent efficiency (24-for-163) with three opposition shorthanded goals yielded. The penalty killing hasn't been much better, coming in ranked 27th and 75.7 percent (112-for-148). Columbus' lone shorthanded goal of the season was scored by Matt Calvert against the Capitals on Dec. 2.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
93 Jakub Voracek - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 21 Scott Laughton - 40 Jordan Weal
15 Jori Lehterä - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 22 Dale Weise
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald -3 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
30 Michal Neuvirth
[49 Alex Lyon]
Scratches: 20 Taylor Leier (healthy), 39 Mark Alt (healthy), 37 Brian Elliott (core muscle surgery).
BLUE JACKETS
9 Artemi Panarin - 18 Pierre-Luc Dubois - 13 Cam Atkinson
71 Nick Foligno - 10 Alexander Wennberg - 28 Oliver Bjorkstrand
38 Boone Jenner - 17 Brandon Dubinsky - 77 Josh Anderson
11 Matt Calvert - 45 Lukas Sedlak - 36 Jussi Jokinen
8 Zack Werenski - 3 Seth Jones
7 Jack Johnson - 65 Markus Nutivaara
46 Dean Kukan - 58 David Savard
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
[70 Joonas Korpisalo]
Scratches: 4 Scott Harrington (healthy), 37 Markus Hännikäinen (healthy), 22 Sonny Milano (IR, torn oblique muscle), 27 Ryan Murray (IR, upper body).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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