Game 13 Preview: Flyers @ Blue Jackets
John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (7-3-2) are in Ohio on Thursday to take on Brad Larsen's Columbus Blue Jackets (3-9-0). Game time at Nationwide Arena is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 5-1 home victory against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. The Blue Jackets were swept in back-to-back NHL Global Series games in Finland at hands of the Colorado Avalanche last Friday and Saturday. The Blue Jackets have lost four games in a row while the Flyers have recorded at least one point in four (2-1-2) of their last five games.
Tortorella was having none of the "how does it feel going back to coach against Columbus for the first time?" line of questioning he received when he did his media availability on Wednesday. There is also no ongoing Jakub Voracek/Cam Atkinson angle for the game, as both players are currently out of their respective teams' lineups due to injuries.
Voracek took a high stick to the face in last Friday's game. He finished that game but missed Saturday's. Voracek is out indefinitely after initially being described as day-to-day. He did not practice on Wednesday. Atkinson was sidelined on the third day of training camp with an upper-body ailment that has not improved sufficiently for him to practice with the team or do any significant skating on his own in the last month.
For an in-depth game preview, see today's Five Things on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com. Potential lineups, subject to change, are below:
Flyers
74 Owen Tippett - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny 86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison 49 Noah Cates - 23 Lukas Sedlak - 17 Zack MacEwen 44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 48 Morgan Frost - 58 Tanner Laczynski
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo 6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen 24 Nick Seeler - 61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart [32 Felix Sandström]
Blue Jackets
13 Johnny Gaudreau - 38 Boone Jenner - 29 Patrik Laine 14 Gustav Nyquist - 96 Jack Roslovic - 52 Emil Bemström 50 Eric Robinson - 34 Cole Sillinger - 59 Yegor Chinakhov 19 Liam Foudy - 16 Brendan Gaunce - 24 Mathieu Olivier
8 Zach Werenski - 77 Nick Blankenburg 4 Vladislav Gavrikov - 2 Andrew Peeke 22 Jake Bean - 44 Erik Gudbranson
90 Elvis Merzlikins 70 Joonas Korpisalo