After a quick trip back home on Monday — which ended in a rough shutout loss to the Islanders — the Flyers will be hoping that they can tap into a bit more of the success they found on their last road trip, as they head out for a mid-week back-to-back. The first stop will take them to Columbus tonight, where they’ll face off against a close divisional rival in the Blue Jackets, who are gaining ground on the Flyers in the standing, and doing it fast.
Puck drop: 7:30 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: TNT
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- Folks, good news! Dan Vladar is back! [BSH]
- Also, a counterargument to the Shane Wright trade speculation. [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 24-18-9 (4th in Metro)
Goals: Trevor Zegras (19)
Assists: Travis Konecny (28)
Points: Trevor Zegras (46)
Columbus Blue Jackets – 24-20-4 (7th in Metro)
Goals: Zach Werenski (19)
Assists: Zach Werenski (36)
Points: Zach Werenski (55)
Projected lineups
Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom – Lane Pederson – Nikita Grebenkin
Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Mason Marchment – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko
Boone Jenner – Sean Monahan – Kent Johnson
Cole Sillinger – Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Olivier
Dmitri Voronkov – Isac Lundeström – Miles Wood
Zach Werenski – Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov – Denton Mateychuk
Egor Zamula – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
(Jet Greaves)
Storylines to watch
Lineup shuffling
The Flyers have been tinkering with their lineup on something of an ongoing basis, both as injuries necessitate, but also just as they look for the right mix that will get the team going again, and keep it going, and tonight will see the next iteration of that. Most notably, it looks like Emil Andrae is set to be a healthy scratch tonight after a bit of a rough showing on Monday — even in a less than optimal showing for the team on a collective level, his struggles in puck management were a standout — so he’ll get a bit of a chance to reset, while Noah Juulsen slides into the lineup in his place.
Elsewhere, we’ll see Rasmus Ristolainen promoted up to the top pair to play alongside Travis Sanheim. And this is something of a curious move — the Flyers were certainly trying to ease Ristolainen back into action in his first game back on Monday, and the results for him were a bit of a mixed bag, but clearly there was enough there that the Flyers saw to feel comfortable promoting him in the lineup for this one. We’ll see how he fares in this increased usage.
Goaltending check
We mentioned this off the top, but the biggest headline heading into this game is all but certainly the return of Dan Vladar from injury. It’s been about two weeks since he’s seen any game action, but the Flyers have been able to slowly work him back up to speed with some extra practice time, so the hope is that there won’t be too much rust lingering, needing to be shaken off. This Blue Jackets team, too, will be something of an interesting one for him to face — they were held to just one goal in three of their last five games, but then they put eight up on the Lightning in their last time out, so really, it could be anything from them.
This also gives Sam Ersson, who’s appeared in each of the Flyers’ last six games, a much-needed night off, so hopefully he’ll be sharp when (we can only assume) he’s given the nod for the start again tomorrow night in Boston.
Starting this stretch strong
As the Flyers get into the last couple of weeks before the Olympic break, they’re entering one of the most critical stretches of the season, as far as the matchups on deck are concerned. Tonight’s matchup with the Columbus is a major one in its own right — the Blue Jackets are one of five teams sitting within two points of the Flyers and their 57 — but from that, the Flyers will move on to face off against the Bruins tomorrow (who are eight points up on the Flyers and occupy the final wildcard spot), and then after a Western Conference interlude to play the Kings on Saturday, next week will see them face the Capitals (tied with the Flyers in the standings), and then the Senators (two points back).
Now, the Flyers do have a bit of wiggle room with their couple of games in hand over most of these teams, but the direness of the situation remains — this stretch could be make-or-break for the Flyers’ playoff hopes, and they need to find a way to rebound in this one and kick it off on a high note.
