Game 64 Preview: FLYERS @ BLUE JACKETS
Interim head coach Scott Gordon's Philadelphia Flyers (30-26-7) are in Ohio on Thursday to take on John Tortorella's Columbus Blue Jackets (35-24-3). Game time at Nationwide Arena is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSNP. The radio broadcast can be found on 97.5 FM The Fanatic with an online simulcast at FlyersRadio247.com.
This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Metro Division teams, and the second and final game in Columbus. The Blue Jackets have won each of the first three games; twice in regulation and once in overtime.
On Oct. 18 at Nationwide Arena, the Flyers scored first and took a 2-1 lead to the first intermission before Columbus scored three times in a seven-minute span in the second period to take control of the game. The Blue Jackets went on to win, 6-3. Winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had a so-so night, which included a gift goal to Sean Couturier. Losing goaltender Cal Pickard (no longer with the Flyers) had a worse night. The team in front of Pickard did him few favors, either, on several key plays., The nadir came in the latter stages of the third period when defenseman Christian Folin fell down, lost the puck and Pickard allowed a very stoppable by Josh Anderson sneak in the short side.
On Dec. 6 at the Wells Fargo Center, a two-goal comeback by the Flyers sent the game to overtime but Philly ultimately fell, 4-3. Seth Jones scored twice, including the winning goal in overtime. Brandon Dubinsky and Boone Jenner also scored for the Blue Jackets. Artemi Panarin had a pair of assists. Travis Sanheim tallied the two goals that forced OT, supplementing a first period goal by Claude Giroux. Travis Konecny had two assists for the Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky was not particularly sharp but stopped 23 of 26 shots to earn the win. Anthony Stolarz made several outstanding saves but let in a leaky first goal and had little to no chance on a couple others as he stopped 26 of 30 shots.
On Dec 22 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers lost 4-3 in regulation. The Flyers didn't give up a lot of shots or scoring chances to Columbus overall nor did Carter Hart play poorly in goal. Philly also generated a healthy number of scoring chances. However, the Flyers' loss was deserved. Philly was sloppy at junctures of the game and paid the price -- they trailed 1-0, briefly led 2-1, then trailed 4-2 before a late comeback bid fell one goal short -- while veteran Columbus star netminder Sergei Bobrovsky outplayed Hart.
In a losing cause, Sean Couturier (power play), Phil Varone (1st Flyers goal) and James van Riemsdyk (one goal, one assist) scored for the Flyers.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are 9-3-1 over their last 13 games and 15-4-1 over their last 20. However, the team is still eight points (seven standings points plus a ROW tiebreaker disadvantage) behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are six standings points and a ROW disadvantage behind Columbus, who are also below the playoff cutoff line at present. In other words, Thursday's game is a virtual must-win for Philly.
On Tuesday, the Flyers took care of business as they rode a strong start and clutch goaltending from Brian Elliott to a 5-2 home victory over a tired-looking Buffalo Sabres team.
Oskar Lindblom (12th goal of the season, 8th in his last 17 games) not only opened the scoring early in the first period but played an especially tenacious game on the forecheck en route to racking up five shots on goal and taking first-star honors. The Flyers also got goals from Jakub Voracek (17th), James van Riemsdyk (17th), Travis Sanheim (6th) and Claude Giroux (empty net, 19th). Travis Konecny (20th assist), Nolan Patrick (13th), Giroux (46th), Phil Myers (1st NHL assist and point), Robert Hà¤gg (11th), Radko Gudas (12th), Sean Couturier (34th) and Michael Raffl (9th) each collected one helper.
Elliott earned the win in net, stopping 34 of 36 shots on goal. He made 29 saves on 30 shots over the final 40 minutes. Not all the stops were textbook, but they were timely and kept the puck out of the net at junctures in which Buffalo was threatening to swing the momentum. Elliott will get the start in Columbus, with Cam Talbot slated to make his Flyers debut on Friday in Newark against the New Jersey Devils.
Ryan Hartman had an impressive Flyers debut, especially his first shift as he landed a crunching and clean open ice hit on Sabres standout rookie defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, grappled with the huge Zack Bogosian and drew a power play for Philly (as well as an ovation for himself from the Wells Fargo Center crowd). Ultimately, Hartman logged 14:12 of ice time and was credited with four hits and four shots on goal in five shot attempts.
The Flyers dressed seven defensemen and 11 forwards in Tuesday's game. Gordon indicated after practice on Wednesday that he does not plan to stay with that arrangement, although he did not say for certain that it would change for the Columbus game. Based on his ice time on Tuesday (8:55) and the continued solid play of rookie Philippe Myers, veteran Andrew MacDonald appears to be the likeliest candidate to be scratched on Thursday if the Flyers restore forward Varone (who was scratched against Buffalo) to the lineup against Columbus.
Carter Hart (ankle) skated with Michal Neuvirth (lower body) prior to Wednesday's practice. Both goalies had blockers, gloves and sticks but no other gear. Mostly, it was a light skate with some passing and shooting down the ice of the puck. At one point, though, Hart did some lateral movements across the blueline with trainer Jim McCrossin nearby at the bench.
Blue Jackets Outlook
With superstar forward Artemi Panarin and two-time Vezina Trophy winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky both impending unrestricted free agents and neither apparently willing to negotiate contract extensions with the Blue Jackets, Columbus was faced with a dilemma as to how to approach the NHL trade deadline.
Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekà¤là¤inen's approach: load up the roster and go all out to aim for a deep playoff run this season while Panarin and Bobrovsky are still with the team. Most notably, the Blue Jackets added forwards Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel to help stack up the forward corps. The club also picked up defenseman Adam McQuaid. For added goaltending depth, the Blue Jackets paid a pittance to New Jersey for Keith Kinkaid.
As a result, the team's outlook for the stretch drive is optimistic, even though the Blue Jackets are currently just below the playoff cutoff. The flip side: When a team changes around multiple pieces in the lineup in-season, it can take just a bit of time for the new arrivals to get up to speed both within the system and in establishing chemistry.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jackets fell flat on home ice against a fired-up Pittsburgh Penguins team that was coming off a disappointing overtime loss to the Flyers at the Stadium Series after never trailing in regulation and holding a 3-1 lead late in the third period. Columbus fell in a 3-0 hole before the game was 22 minutes old, and went on to lose by a 5-2 count. Oliver Björkstrand (12th) and Cam Atkinson (power play, 35th) scored for the Blue Jackets. Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 26 shots, with Pittsburgh subsequently tacking on an empty net goal.
Projected Lines (Subject to change)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 19 Nolan Patrick - 11 Travis Konecny 23 Oskar Lindblom - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek 25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 38 Ryan Hartman 12 Michael Raffl - 44 Phil Varone - 10 Corban Knight
9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim 53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 61 Phillipe Myers 8 Robert Hà¤gg - 3 Radko Gudas
37 Brian Elliott [33 Cam Talbot]
Scratches: 5 Sam Morin (healthy), 47 Andrew MacDonald (healthy), 72 Carter Hart (lower body), 30 Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body).
BLUE JACKETS
9 Artemi Panarin - 18 Pierre-Luc Dubois - 13 Cam Atkinson 19 Ryan Dzingel - 95 Matt Duchene - 28 Oliver Bjorkstrand 71 Nick Foligno - 38 Boone Jenner - 77 Josh Anderson 50 Eric Robinson - 20 Riley Nash - 17 Brandon Dubinsky …‹
8 Zach Werenski - 3 Seth Jones 65 Markus Nutivaara - 58 David Savard 4 Scott Harrington - 54 Adam McQuaid …‹
72 Sergei Bobrovsky [70 Joonas Korpisalo…‹]
Scratches: 10 Alexander Wennberg (healthy), 14 Dean Kukan (healthy), 37 Markus Hà¤nnikà¤inen (healthy), 45 Lukas Sedlak (healthy), 1 Keith Kincaid (healthy), 27 Ryan Murray (IR, upper body).