Game 81 Preview: Flyers vs. Blue Jackets
Playing their final home game of the 2022-23 season, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (26-38-13) will host Brad Larsen's Columbus Blue Jackets (24-47-8) at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday evening. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT.
This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the teams this season, and the second in Philadelphia. The Flyers are 1-1-1 in the first three games of the season against the Blue Jackets.
The Flyers have lost each of their last seven games (0-6-1) heading into this match. The Blue Jackets, who are in the cellar of the Eastern Conference and tied with the Chicago Blackhawks for the fewest points in the NHL this season, are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games with three consecutive losses heading into the game.
Tony DeAngelo has been a healthy scratch in each of the last three games. In the Easter Sunday game against Boston, Tortorella elected to start 13 forwards and just five defensemen because Nick Seeler was pretty severely under the weather. In the third period of the game, Ivan Provorov sustained what initially looked like a separated or dislocated shoulder. However, the player returned a few minutes later and gritted it out for the rest of the game.
Provorov has never missed a game in his NHL career due to injury nor has he ever been a healthy scratch. Last season, by league COVID policy mandate, he had to sit out three games due an asymptomatic coronavirus case. If it's at all possible for Provorov to play tonight, he will.
In the meantime, Seeler still did not feel well on Monday. He had to postpone a media call to discuss his nomination for the Masterton Trophy by the Philadelphia-based chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The conference was moved back to Tuesday morning.
Earlier this morning, Seeler again passed along his regrets and postponed the media availability for a second time. If he's feeling better later today, he may speak before the game and suit up to play. He is presently questionable for the game.
Also this morning, the Flyers recalled defenseman Adam Ginning from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for tonight's game. The recall has nothing to do with the respective statuses of Seeler, DeAngelo or Provorov. The callup plan was known a week ago. Ginning will make his NHL debut tonight.
The Flyers are a virtual -- but not yet mathematical -- lock for the seventh-worst record (26th place) in the final NHL standings. Whether Philly defeats or loses to the Blue Jackets or Chicago is unlikely to have any bearings on the final standings. The Flyers cannot finish 25th. The only way they could finish 27th (sixth-worst record) is if the Montreal Canadiens defeat both the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins in their final two games and the Flyers lose in regulation to Columbus and Chicago teams that are "competing" for 32nd place and the highest odds in the Draft Lottery.
Montreal is currently three points behind the Flyers and would finish behind the Flyers in the final standings if there is a standings points tie at 71 apiece. As such, Montreal would need back-to-back wins over the Islanders and Bruins (by any means) to get to 72 points and the Flyers would have to lose each of their final two games in regulation to stay at 71 points.
If the scenario were, somehow, to play out that the Flyers drop to 27th place and Montreal finishes 26th, the Flyers current Draft Lottery odds would modestly improve from the current 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent. It'd actually be more meaningful that the maximum the Flyers could drop due to bad Lottery luck would be the 7th or 8th overall pick rather than the 8th or 9th.
In the meantime, the Blue Jackets are Blackhawks are tied for the fewest points in the NHL this season (56 apiece) but Columbus holds a game in hand (three remaining games vs. two). The Blue Jackets remain riddled with injuries and none of the day-to-day status players are likely to suit up tonight.
Forward Eric Robinson is out for tonight's game with an upper-body injury. Also out: Lane Pederson (upper body), Nick Blankenburg (ankle), Mathieu Olivier (lower leg bone bruise) and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (lower body).
The Blue Jackets have recalled five players from the AHL's Cleveland Monsters for tonight's game: forwards Trey Fix-Wolansky, Josh Dunne and Carson Meyer as well as defensemen David Jiricek and Jake Christiansen. Jiricek was Columbus' first-round Draft pick in 2022.
Neither team will hold a morning skate today. Projected lineups below are very much subject to change.
FLYERS
13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Noah Cates - 74 Owen Tippett 86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny 25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison 22 Brendan Lemieux - 58 Tanner Laczynski - 44 Nicolas Deslauriers
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York 6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen 24 Nick Seeler (???) - 50 Adam Ginning
79 Carter Hart 32 Felix Sandström
Available: 61 Justin Braun, 77 Tony DeAngelo, 20 Kieffer Bellows.
BLUE JACKETS
13 Johnny Gaudreau - 38 Boone Jenner - 86 Kirill Marchenko 91 Kent Johnson - 96 Jack Roslovic - 64 Trey Fix-Wolansky 19 Liam Foudy - 7 Sean Kuraly -52 Emil Bemström 72 Carson Meyer - 21 Josh Dunne - 41 Hunter McKown
15 Gavin Bayreuther - 2 Andrew Peeke 23 Jake Christiansen - 55 David Jiricek 75 Tim Berni - 27 Adam Boqvist
31 Michael Hutchinson 32 Jon Gillies