The Jackets take on a few old pals today.
The Philadelphia Flyers will welcome the Blue Jackets into Wells Fargo Arena today at 5:30 p.m. The Flyers have been hot of late, winning four straight games. Those games have come against Vegas, Carolina, LA, and Anaheim. Those are not slouch teams by any stretch. The Flyers currently sit 4th in the Metro with 19 points. Both teams played yesterday, so both may take a period or so to get their legs.
Three Keys
- Send Philly To The Box. The Flyers take a ton of penalties. They rank 28th in total PIM so far, and that has to drive HC John Tortorella insane. Keep the feet moving, play aggressively, and draw those penalties. Sooner or later the law of averages has to kick in for this CBJ PP and they'll score.
- Slow The Flyers Down. With Travis Sanheim, Travis Konecny, and Cam Atkinson leading the way, you have to slow these three down. None of them really like to hit, so why not hit them often and take them off the puck? Don't let either of these three generate anything if you want a chance to win.
- Take Advantage of Not Getting Carter Hart. Samuel Ersson is the expected starter, as Hart went yesterday against Vegas. Ersson is 2-3 with a 3.43 GAA and a .855 save %. Both teams are coming in having played yesterday, but the Jackets had to travel and got in late. Pump as many shots as possible at Ersson to make this game winnable.
Series History
- The CBJ are 10-12-2 on the road against the Flyers, including 5-3-1 in the last 9.
- The Jackets are 4-3-1 in their last 8 against Philly.
Who to watch for Philadelphia
- Travis Sanheim has 2 goals and 16 points for the Flyers to lead the team in scoring.
- Travis Konecny has 10 goals and 14 points.
- Former Jacket Cam Atkinson has 8 goals and 13 points.
- Goalie Carter Hart is 6-3 with a 2.40 GAA and a save % of .919
Roster Notes
- With Elvis playing last night, we should expect Spencer Martin in goal today against the Flyers.
- Ivan Provorov should have some extra pep in his step today. This marks the first game against the Flyers in Philadelphia since he was traded to Columbus. He currently leads the team in points.
- Mathieu Olivier came in for Trey Fix-Wolansky yesterday, might we see TFW go back in tonight against the Flyers? Olivier started with Gaudreau and Laine yesterday but only ended up with 9:33 of TOI, the lowest among forwards.
- Johnny Gaudreau has 22 points in 18 career games against Philly, including 10 points in Wells Fargo.
- Zach Werenski has 11 points in 19 games against the Flyers.
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on Bally Sports Ohio. As always, the legendary Jeff Rimer will be on the play-by-play with his partner Jody Shelley. The radio broadcast will be on the alternate channel of 105.7 with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
Join Jason Newland's Columbus Blue Jacket page on Bunches, a new app that connects sports fans. Also, you can watch a new YouTube game show about the Blue Jackets, Around the Fifth Line.