Cam Atkinson

The Columbus Blue Jackets may have loaded up at the trade deadline, but they currently sit outside of the playoff picture with 19 games to play. The Flyers are six points behind Columbus, looking to cut into that margin.

The Metropolitan Division, featuring Flyers captain Claude Giroux, came away victorious at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game in San Jose on Saturday night, defeating the Atlantic Division in the semi-finals and the Central Division in the championship game.

If the Flyers did everything they could to eliminate chances in front of Carter Hart in the first two games of his career, they didn’t do him any favors in his third game. Hart was left in difficult position, needing to recover from the shortcomings the Flyers had early in the season, in a 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Carter Hart faced just 19 shots in the game, but allowed four goals as the Flyers struggled and were unable to find a rally in a 4-3 loss to the Blue Jackets at Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers final home game of 2018 comes against the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team that got the better of the Flyers in overtime earlier this month.

The Flyers did salvage a point out of this game against the much superior Columbus Blue Jackets, but it wasn’t the type of performance that will keep the new GM from action.

The Flyers need to channel the energy from a character win in Pittsburgh that was led by their goaltender, especially as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team challenging for the Metro Division lead. Game time is 7 p.m.

Defense on the Flyers isn’t a problem, it’s an epidemic. And it’s making for some downright unwatchable hockey. Takeaways from another lopsided loss.

The Blue Jackets struck for three goals in the second and two more late in the third in a 6-3 win over the Flyers at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, dropping the Flyers to 3-4-0 on the season.