Flyers Return to Columbus, Seek to End Losing Streak
By Scott Cole
Last week at this time, the Flyers were flying high on a two game winning streak and were going to be playing against two teams that were floundering in last place. Then they lost them both. Now the Flyers are heading back to the scene of the first loss: Columbus, looking to get their season jump started again.
Both teams are riddled with injuries. Both teams are having troubles scoring. Both teams are struggling right now.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 7-6-2 (16 points, 4th in Metro)
Sloppy play riddled the Flyers in their last trip to Columbus. Granted, the 5-2 loss was inflated by two empty net goals near the end of the game but three of the Blue Jackets’ goals came off of turnovers. Against Ottawa, two goals came off the power play.
Likewise, the goal scoring drought is hitting this team hard. In the eight games that were played in October, the Flyers scored 24 goals; roughly an average of three per game (and that includes the 3-0 shutout vs San Jose). In the seven games played so far in November, the team has scored 13 goals; and that includes a five goal outburst against the Blues last week. Take away that game, the Flyers have scored eight goals in six games, for an average of slightly over one goal per game. That’s not gonna win you any games….and if you’ve been paying attention, they haven’t been.
The team is mired in a three game losing streak. Coach Tortorella is going to have to shuffle some lines, call out players, bench some guys, and/or call up some AHLers to fix whatever is going on. Lately, the only line that has been scoring is the Hayes-Konecny line. They are responsible for the only goals scored against Dallas on Saturday and Ottawa on Sunday.
Yes, the Flyers are bruised and battered. Yes, they are plugging holes with depth pieces and minor league callups. Yes, this is starting to look exactly like last year: team starts off well, get competitive, players get hurt, and then the team falls apart. Coach Tortorella is the guy who can turn this around and fix this, but he’s going to have to start shaking things up.
Projected Lineup
Owen Tippett – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny
Scott Laughton – Noah Cates – Joel Farabee
Max Willman – Morgan Frost – Zack MacEwen
Nicolas Deslauriers – Lukas Sedlak – Kieffer Bellows
Ivan Provorov – Tony DeAngelo
Travis Sanheim – Justin Braun
Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen
Carter Hart
Columbus Blue Jackets
Record: 4-9-1 (9 points, 8th in Central)
Zack Werenski, who scored a goal in the last go-around with the Flyers, is out for the season. The all-star defender has a torn labrum and a separated shoulder stemming from the game last week against Philly. He joins Nick Blankenburg, Sean Kuraly, and Jakub Voracek all on injured reserve. Blankenburg also scored two goals in last week’s game.
Despite that loss, the Blue Jackets still have Johnny Gaudreau, who will always prove to be a formidable combo of speed. Centered by Boone Jenner, that line is responsible for most of the team’s points. Against Philly last week, four of the five goals came from this group. However, Patrik Laine is out for the next few weeks with an ankle injury. So, without Werenski, Laine, and the others, the Flyers will be facing a very depleted corps.
Joonas Korpisalo won the game last week against Philly. He’ll probably start this game as well as he is the only consistent goalie that CBJ has right now. He leads all three Jacket goalies with .912 save percentage and is second on the team with a 3.66 (just .09 points behind Daniil Tarasov).
Columbus is still in last place in the Metropolitan Division. And in the NHL ranks, the Blue Jackets place 29th in goals for, 31st in goals against, 32nd in power play, 15th in penalty killing, and 3rd in most penalties taken. On paper, this should be an easy game to win. But, I said the same thing last week and look how well that went.
Projected Lineup
Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Emil Bemström
Yegor Chinakhov – Cole Sillinger – Gustav Nyquist
Liam Foudy –Brendan Gaunce – Kent Johnson
Eric Robinson – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Vladislav Gavrikov – Andrew Peeke
Jake Bean – Marcus Bjrk
Jake Christiansen – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 7:30 PM
Where: Nationwide Arena
Watch: ESPN+ / Hulu
Radio: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: Fubo Tv
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