Will third time be the charm for Flyers against Columbus?
By Scott Cole
Back in November, the Flyers 10 game losing streak began in Columbus. Less than a week later, the Flyers dropped an overtime game that was super winnable. While these losses were depressing, the fact that the Blue Jackets have a worse record than Philly does makes these losses a little harder to bear.
But will the third time be the charm? After being humiliated in a 5-2 loss and after letting one slip away in overtime, will the Flyers be able to win this home game? Or, will history repeat itself and will the Flyers sink further into the standings?
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 10-15-7 (27 points, 7th in Metro)
The Flyers will be getting Kevin Hayes back into the lineup tonight after being benched for a game. Hayes, the Flyers leading scorer, has expressed his feelings that he felt he shouldn’t have been benched. Let’s see how he takes this in tonight’s game. Will he pout about it or will it ignite the fire in him that Coach John Tortorella has been hoping to get going?
Speaking of igniting a fire, James van Riemsdyk has been lit lately. In the last four games, he has had three goals and three assists. It kind of makes you wonder where this team would’ve been had he not been hurt.
Likewise, Carter Hart has been simply amazing this year. He tied a career-high for saves in the victory over the New Jersey Devils. Speaking of which, if the Flyers can defeat the division-leading Devils, then there is no reason that the Columbus Blue Jackets should continue to be a thorn in their side.
Philadelphia Flyers Projected Lineup
Joel Farabee — Noah Cates — Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk — Morgan Frost — Owen Tippett
Kevin Hayes — Scott Laughton — Zack MacEwen
Nicolas Deslauriers — Patrick Brown — Wade Allison
Ivan Provorov — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Justin Braun
Travis Sanheim — Tony DeAngelo
Carter Hart
Columbus Blue Jackets
Record: 10-19-2 (22 points, 8th in Metropolitan)
This is a team that came into the season with much higher expectations. Patrik Laine and Johnny Gaudreau have been formidable. Outside of them, the Jackets don’t have a lot of punch.
Zach Werenski, their star defender, was injured against the Flyers and is out for the season. Former Flyer Jakub Voracek is out for the year as well. This is a team that the Flyers should be kicking while they are down. If anytime in this league can say that they’ve had as many injuries as Philly, Columbus could probably be close.
And yet, their numbers are similar to Philly. They are 27th in goals for, 31st in goals against, 30th in power play, and 17th in penalty kill. The Flyers, in comparison, are 29th in goals for, 20th in goals against, 29th in power play, and 17th in penalty kill. Let’s be honest…this is not a battle between two of the league elites.
Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
Johnny Gaudreau — Kent Johnson — Patrik Laine
Gustav Nyquist — Jack Roslovic — Kirill Marchenko
Eric Robinson — Sean Kuraly — Liam Foudy
Carson Meyer — Josh Dunne — Mathieu Olivier
Vladislav Gavrikov — Marcus Bjork
Tim Berni — Erik Gudbranson
Jake Christiansen — Andrew Peeke
Daniil Tarasov
Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 7 PM
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, ESPN+
Radio: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: fuboTV
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