Flyers-Blue Jackets: Game 61 Preview

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

With a key win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the Flyers made the jump from the final wildcard spot to third place in the Metropolitan Division. They retained the spot on a day off on Wednesday, as the Islanders lost to Colorado.

Just as they did with Florida a week ago, the Flyers have a chance to create some separation with Columbus when they face each other again on Thursday night, as the Flyers look to complete a season sweep of the Blue Jackets on the road.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Columbus Blue Jackets	GP	G	A	P
Sean Couturier	60	18	35	53	Pierre-Luc Dubois	61	17	27	44
Travis Konecny	57	20	31	51	Gustav Nyquist	61	12	25	37
Claude Giroux	60	16	30	46	Zach Werenski	54	18	18	36
Jake Voracek	60	12	33	45	Oliver Bjorkstrand	48	20	14	34
James van Riemsdyk	60	18	20	38	Seth Jones	56	6	24	30

Player to Watch
11 Travis Konecny	8 Zach Werenski
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 3 A, 5 P, +2	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, -3

Travis Konecny picked up three points in Tuesday's game to set a new career high with 51 points on the season in just 57 games played. Konecny has points in three of the last four games, including two goals to reach the 20-goal mark for the third straight season.

Zach Werenski has had to carry a large part of the defensive play with Seth Jones out with injury. Werenski is a great offensive talent and can change a game with his abilities, but it has been a struggle for Columbus to put up points with so many players out of the lineup.

Projected Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	90 Elvis Merzlikins
29 GP, 14-7-4, 2.90 GAA, .898 SV%	29 GP, 12-9-6, 2.29 GAA, .924 SV%

Brian Elliott will be in goal for the Flyers on Thursday, making his third start of the season against the Blue Jackets. Elliott's last game was a 5-3 loss to the Islanders on Feb. 11, allowing four goals on 24 shots. He allowed four goals on 26 shots in the Flyers 7-4 win over Columbus on Oct. 26 and allowed two goals on 30 shots in a 3-2 win over Columbus on Nov. 27.

Elvis Merzlikins gets back in goal after a rough night on Tuesday. He allowed four goals on 12 shots before being pulled during the third period. Merzlikins is currently on a five-game personal losing streak amid Columbus' six-game losing streak.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Justin Braun (flu, day-to-day, Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Scratches: Shayne Gostisbehere

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
49 Joel Farabee	13 Kevin Hayes	11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk	21 Scott Laughton	18 Tyler Pitlick
12 Michael Raffl	82 Connor Bunnaman	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg	59 Mark Friedman
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott	79 Carter Hart

Lineup Notes

Mark Friedman enters the lineup for Thursday's game. Justin Braun is out with the flu and Shayne Gostisbehere was assigned to Lehigh Valley for a conditioning stint.

Blue Jackets Projected Lineup

Injuries: Seth Jones, Cam Atkinson, Josh Anderson, Joonas Korpisalo, Ryan Murray, Alexander Wennberg, Alexandre Texier, Dean Kukan

Scratches: Gabriel Carlsson, Sonny Milano

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
71 Nick Foligno	18 Pierre-Luc Dubois	28 Oliver Bjorkstrand
14 Gustav Nyquist	11 Kevin Stenlund	52 Emil Bemstrom
23 Stefan Matteau	38 Boone Jenner	24 Nathan Gerbe
15 Jakob Lilja	20 Riley Nash	50 Eric Robinson
Defense
8 Zach Werenski	65 Markus Nutivaara
44 Vladislav Gavrikov	58 David Savard
4 Scott Harrington	2 Andrew Peeke
Goalie
90 Elvis Merzlikins	80 Matiss Kivlenieks

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (16th), Blue Jackets (T-23rd)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (11th), Blue Jackets (9th)
Recent History vs. Blue Jackets
- Oct. 26, 2019 – Flyers 7, Blue Jackets 4 (at PHI)
- Nov. 27, 2019 – Flyers 3, Blue Jackets 2 (at CBJ)
- Feb. 18, 2020 – Flyers 5, Blue Jackets 1 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Blue Jackets
- Claude Giroux – 32 GP, 10 G, 22 A, 32 P
- Travis Konecny – 14 GP, 5 G, 10 A, 15 P
- James van Riemsdyk – 22 GP, 10 G, 9 A, 19 P
- Jake Voracek – 28 GP, 8 G, 15 A, 23 P
- Brian Elliott – 14 GP, 8-3-3, 2.49 GAA, .911 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Scott Laughton needs three points to reach 100 for his career.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 93.3 WMMR

YWT: The Philadelphia Flyers Podcast

Flyers-Blue Jackets: Game 61 Preview

Kevin Durso

Kevin Durso

Kevin Durso

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