At long last, the Flyers are back from their roadtrip and looking to begin to make some progress in climbing up the standings towards a playoff spot. A successful trip out West had certainly given them a meaningful boost in momentum, but this next matchup against a tough divisional opponent in the Blue Jackets will be a real test for them, as they look to keep that momentum going.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: ESPN+/Hulu
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- The vibes are high coming off of that road trip, but we’re going to be a little doom and gloom for a second. The Flyers’ offense has struggled in a big way to create chances, and it’s not just been bad, it’s been historically bad. [BSH]
- Also, it’s been a tougher go of things for Sam Ersson than some might have realized. [BSH]
- On a lighter note, we have another signing to report! Another prospect is joining the organization for real, with Alex Ciernik signing his entry level deal. [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 34-23-12 (5th in Metro)
Goals: Travis Konecny (25)
Assists: Travis Konecny (35)
Points: Travis Konecny (60)
Columbus Blue Jackets – 37-22-11 (3rd in Metro)
Goals: Kirill Marchenko (25)
Assists: Zach Werenski (55)
Points: Zach Werenski (75)
Projected lineups
Alex Bump — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey — Trevor Zegras — Owen Tippett
Carl Grundstrom — Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Nikita Grebenkin — Sean Couturier — Luke Glendening
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Mason Marchment — Adam Fantilli — Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson — Sean Monahan — Connor Garland
Cole Sillinger — Charlie Coyle — Mathieu Olivier
Isac Lundeström — Boone Jenner — Danton Heinen
Zach Werenski — Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov –Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk — Erik Gudbranson
Jett Greaves
(Elvis Merzlikins)
Storylines to watch
Reinforcements on the way
As of this morning’s skate, there was still quite a bit left up in the air as it relates to tonight’s lineup. Though all of the injured players — Denver Barkey, Sean Couturier, and Luke Glendening — took part in the skate, officially at the time they were still designated as game-time decisions.
We’ll have to wait until warmups and the line rushes therein to see for sure how this is all going to shake out, but the word on the street is that all three of those players should be good to return to action tonight, which would be a major boost for the Flyers, indeed.
Vladar gets the start
Unsurprisingly, the Flyers are going right back to Dan Vladar for the start tonight, as they head into one of their biggest games of the season, to date. He’s been playing well all season, and he certainly gives them the best chance at pulling off another win to keep this thing rolling, but we can’t ignore the little voice at the back of our minds piping up with concern about how he’ll hold up under this continued heavy workload. He’s been able to keep it together for them quite well so far though, and they’ll need him to bring more of his best stuff tonight, as they look to get a bit of revenge on the Blue Jackets after last time out’s tough shootout loss.
A make or break matchup
The Flyers put in some very good work to sweep that California road trip to stack some wins and keep their playoff push alive, but there’s still a whole lot of work left to be done. It’s been a real positive to see them controlling well the things that they can control, but the bad news that’s running alongside that is that they haven’t been getting much help from the teams around them in the standings — even with those three wins banked, the Flyers haven’t moved from that fifth place spot in the Metro, and they’re still five points behind the Islanders for that final wildcard spot. This might not be a situation where, depending on the outcome, the Flyers could catch or leap over the Blue Jackets in the standings, or even pull themselves all the way up into a playoff spot, but this is still a major, meaningful game in front of them. Picking up points against the California teams was great, but they really need to start stacking wins over their conference opponents to make a meaningful dent in that gap between themselves and a wildcard spot. If they stumble in this one, that hill to climb will grow much steeper, and one of the biggest tests of their ability to keep the ball rolling and take care of business lies ahead.
