Game No. 52 Preview: Flyers vs. Blue Jackets

The Philadelphia Flyers head to Columbus with a clearer sense of what went wrong last time out.

Their 4–0 loss to the Islanders wasn’t about matchups or bad bounces so much as a collective failure to generate pace, pressure, or urgency, particularly from the players relied upon to drive offense.

Against a Blue Jackets team that has been playing fast and confidently, this game becomes about whether Philadelphia can correct details quickly—manage energy, simplify decisions, and sustain the level of play that they know they're capable of, but have struggled remain consistent with.

Goaltender Dan Vladar has been activated from IR, where has spent the last two weeks after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres. 

Sam Ersson had been shouldering the brunt of goaltending duties in Vladar's absence, started four straight games and appeared in seven consecutive contests overall—a workload that speaks both to trust and necessity. But the Flyers have reached the part of the season where good intentions can turn into bad habits, especially in net.

Vladar’s start against Columbus gives Ersson a needed physical and mental reset while also testing whether Philadelphia can maintain structure and detail without leaning too heavily on its de facto workhorse.

Rick Tocchet didn’t hide from the Islanders loss, and he didn’t spread blame evenly for the sake of diplomacy. He was direct—some of the Flyers’ top offensive producers didn’t have enough impact, urgency, or pace.

"They were doing really well at the beginning, and now they're doing as well, right?" Tocchet said of the line made up of Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, and Travis Konecny. "I hate to use the word cheating, but they're cheating for offense. You gotta go through the procession to get offense...I think they put pressure on themselves to produce. A lot of guys aren't filling the net, so they feel like they have to be that line, but you can't be the line that cheats for offense. You gotta play the right way."

This awareness is important, because the Blue Jackets are not a team you beat passively. They are fast, opportunistic, and increasingly confident. They force opponents to skate, to make decisions under pressure, and to defend in motion. If the Flyers’ top six is quiet again, it won’t be because Columbus shut them down tactically—it’ll be because Philadelphia didn’t assert itself.

Now, that's not to say that the Flyers necessarily need heroics. What they do need is intent in the form of controlled entries and pucks moved with purpose instead of hope. Against the Islanders, the Flyers too often waited for the game to come to them. Columbus won’t allow that luxury.

The Flyers are no longer learning how to play well. They’re learning how to play when playing well is harder.

Mid-season fatigue affects most, if not all, teams in the league at some point. Legs are half a step slower, reads take an extra beat, and habits that hold under ideal conditions begin to fray under volume and repetition. The Islanders game was a textbook example of what happens when mental sharpness dips even slightly.

Columbus presents a different kind of test. They’re another division rival that presents an opportunity for the Flyers to claw their way back up the standings, and while they've been on a bit of a hot streak, they're far from unbeatable. For the Flyers, this is about proving they can manufacture energy instead of relying on it. 

The Flyers’ best performances this season—wins against fast, aggressive teams—have shown a group capable of structure, buy-in, and emotional control. The problem hasn’t been ceiling. It’s been floor.

Against the Islanders, the Flyers didn’t lose because they were outplayed for 60 minutes; they lost because they never raised themselves to a functional baseline. That’s the gap they’re trying to close now.

Consistency, at this stage, isn’t about recreating dominant nights. It’s about making sure bad games are merely subpar—not empty.

A road game in Columbus, following a home shutout, is exactly where those lessons take root.

Philadelphia Flyers

Forwards:

Trevor Zegras - Christian Dvorak - Travis Konecny

Denver Barkey - Sean Couturier - Owen Tippett

Matvei Michkov - Noah Cates - Bobby Brink 

Nikita Grebenkin - Lane Pederson - Carl Grundstrom

Defense:

Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen

Cam York - Jamie Drysdale

Nick Seeler - Noah Juulsen

Goalies:

Dan Vladar

Sam Ersson

Columbus Blue Jackets

Forwards:

Mason Marchment - Adam Fantilli - Kirill Marchenko 

Boone Jenner - Sean Monahan - Kent Johnson 

Cole Sillinger - Charlie Coyle - Mathieu Olivier

Dmitri Voronkov - Isac Lundestrom - Miles Wood 

Defense:

Zach Werenski - Damon Severson 

Ivan Provorov - Denton Mateychuk

Egor Zamula - Erik Gudbranson 

Goalies:

Elvis Merzlikins

Jet Greaves