GAME 60: FLYERS vs. BLUE JACKETS
In the front half of a crucial home-and-home set, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (32-20-7 overall, 19-5-4 home) play host to John Tortorella's Columbus Blue Jackets (30-18-12 overall, 12-7-9 away) on Tuesday night. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on the
Flyers Radio 24/7 component of the Flyers Broadcast Network.
This is the third of four meetings this season between the teams, and the second and final game in Philadelphia. The Flyers are 2-0-0 against the Blue Jackets this season. The season series will conclude two nights from now at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. For an in-depth look at the season series to date, comparative team stats and other factors to watch heading into the home-and-home set,
click here.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers swept an indirect home-and-home set against the Florida Panthers last week, with a heartbreaking road loss against the New York Islanders in between. On Saturday, the Flyers' road comeback bid against the scorching hot Tampa Bay Lightning fell short in a
5-3 loss.
The Flyers practiced on Monday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Shayne Gostisbehere (knee soreness) reported that he feels much better now after missing all but one game since injuring his knee on Jan. 7 and undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery the following week. He may go on a brief conditioning stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms before returning to the NHL lineup.
Carter Hart will get the start on Tuesday; his first start of the season against Columbus after Brian Elliott was the winning goalie in both previous meetings with the Blue Jackets.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux has been hot offensively since moving back to left wing and being reunited with Sean Couturier. Giroux has nine points (3g. 6a) in his last five games. For his career, he has 30 points (10g, 20a) in 31 career games against the Blue Jackets including a goal and an assist over the two games this season.
Moving down to the third line at five-on-five has helped James van Riemsdyk get into some more favorable matchups than the diet of top opposing shutdown lines he saw when playing higher in the even strength lineup. JVR has points in five straight games, with eight points overall (4g, 4a) in that span.
The Flyers enter Tuesday's game ranked first in the NHL in two categories: fewest average shots on goal allowed per game and highest faceoff percentage.
BLUE JACKETS OUTLOOK
Before being decimated by key injuries, the Blue Jackets had been one of the hottest teams in the NHL over the course of roughly two months. They have struggled of late, however, going winless in their last five games (0-2-3).
Columbus is trying to find ways to work around the absence of Seth Jones (ankle surgery) for most or all of the remainder of the regular season. They'll also be without two-time NHL All-Star forward Cam Atkinson (ankle) for several weeks to come.
In total, the Blue Jackets have lost a whopping 327 man games to injury this season. Also currently out of the lineup due to injury are the likes of Alexander Wennberg (upper body), Josh Anderson (shoulder), Dean Kukan (knee), Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), Alexandre Texier (lumbar stress fracture) and goalie Joonas Korpisalo (knee, now day-to-day).
In the absence of Korpisalo, rookie goaltender Elvis Merzlikins has been a sensation. Over his last seven road games, he is 5-1-1, with a 2.13 GAA and .931 save percentage.
Pierre-Luc Dubois leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with 44 points (17g, 27a). He has averaged north of a point-per-game on the road since Dec. 14 with 18 points (5g, 13a) in 14 games. Meanwhile, Oliver Björkstrand has a four-game overall point streak (2g, 2a) and a six-game point streak on the road (4g, 4a). Overall, the Dane leads Columbus with 19 goals.
With the loss of Jones, Zach Werenski becomes the Blue Jackets' No. 1 defenseman. Always a threat to join the attack, Werenski has taken over the NHL goal-scoring lead among defenseman from Washington's John Carlson, who led the way in the first half of the season. Werenski has 18 goals among his 35 points. Although not as well-rounded of a player as Jones, Werenski is a force to be reckoned with for any opponent.
Scott Laughton's close friend and former Oshawa Generals teammate, Boone Jenner, has been a Flyers nemesis throughout his NHL career. He has 10 goals and 20 points overall this season in 60 games but has nine career goals in 25 career games against Philadelphia; his most against any opponent. Jenner scored twice in the teams' first meeting this season.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
49 Joel Farabee - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 18 Tyler Pitlick
12 Michael Raffl - 82 Connor Bunnaman - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim -5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hägg - 61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart
[37 Brian Elliott]
Power Play 1: Giroux, Couturier, Konecny, Voracek, Provorov.
Power Play 2: JVR, Hayes, Farabee, Sanheim, Niskanen.
Scratches: 53 Shayne Gostisbehere (knee).
LTIR: 55 Sam Morin (torn ACL, out for season), 23 Oskar Lindblom (Ewing sarcoma, out for season), 19 Nolan Patrick (migraines).
BLUE JACKETS
14 Gustav Nyquist - 11 Kevin Stenlund - 52 Emil Bemström
24 Nathan Gerbe - 38 Boone Jenner - 71 Nick Foligno
22 Sonny Milano - 18 Pierre-Luc Dubois - 28 Oliver Björkstrand
50 Eric Robinson - 28 Riley Nash - 50 Jakob Lilja
8 Zach Werenski - 65 Markus Nutivaara
44 Vladislav Gavrikov - 58 David Savard
4 Scott Harrington - 2 Andrew Peake
90 Elvis Merzlikins
[80 Matīss Kivlenieks]
Power Play 1: Foligno, Dubois, Björkstrand, Bemström, Werenski
Power Play 2: Nyquist, Jenner, Milano, Stenlund, Nutivaara
Scratches: 53 Gabriel Carlsson (healthy), 70 Joonas Korpisalo (day-to-day, Dec. 28 knee injury).
IR: 3 Seth Jones (ankle surgery on Feb. 9, out 8-to-10 weeks), 10 Alexander Wennberg (upper body, Feb. 1, out 3-4 weeks), 13 Cam Atkinson (sprained ankle on Feb. 9, out 2-to-3 weeks), 17 Brandon Dubinsky (wrist, Sep. 24), 27 Ryan Murray (upper body, Dec. 13), 42 Alexandre Texier (lumbar stress fracture, Dec. 31), 46 Dean Kukan (torn knee meniscus, Jan. 2), 77 Josh Anderson (shoulder, Dec. 13).
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