Game 78 Preview: Flyers vs. Blue Jackets
The Philadelphia Flyers (36-30-11) are in Ohio on Saturday to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (25-39-12). Game time at Nationwide Arena is 7:00 p.m. EDT.
This is the fourth and final meeting of the season series between the teams, and the second in Columbus. The Flyers are 2-0-1 against the Blue Jackets this season: a 4-2 road win on opening night (Oct.12), 5-2 home win on Nov. 19, and 3-2 (1-0) shootout home loss on Jan.4.
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The Flyers,2-5-3 over their past 10 games, are winless in their last six matches (0-4-2). On Friday, the Flyers
lost 4-2 in Buffalo. The Blue Jackets, 3-6-1 in the last 10 games, lost 4-2 to the New York Islanders at home on Thursday.
The Flyers are still missing Sean Couturier (upper-body injury) from the lineup. Samuel Ersson is the expected starter in goal. Philly will not hold a morning skate in Columbus.
Philadelphia, somehow, is still clinging on to the final wildcard playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They've reached a point, however, where the next misstep could be fatal to their playoff hopes. All of the teams with whom the Flyers are competing for a playoff spot hold a game in hand.
On Saturday, the Flyers will play a severely depleted Columbus club that has 10 regulars missing from the lineup: two goalies, two defensemen and six forwards. They expect to have Johnny Gaudreau (illness) back in the lineup.
Projected lineups are below. They will be updated, as needed, prior to gametime.
FLYERS (Confirmed)
71 Tyson Foerster - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 21 Scott Laughton - 10 Bobby Brink
62 Olle Lycksell - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
86 Joel Farabee - 27 Noah Cates - 89 Cam Atkinson
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
50 Adam Ginning - 23 Ronnie Attard
33 Samuel Ersson
[82 Ivan Fedotov]
Available to play: 5 Egor Zamula, 23 Ronnie Attard, 50 Adam Ginning, 15 Denis Gurianov, 44 Nicolas Deslauriers.
BLUE JACKETS
13 Johnny Gaudreau - 10 Dmitri Voronkov - 92 Alex Nylander
42 Alexandre Texier - 4 Cole Sillinger - 86 Kirill Marchenko
82 Mikael Pyyhtia - 16 Brendan Gaunce - 24 Mathieu Olivier
67 James Malatesta -17 Justin Danforth - 72 Carson Meyer
8 Zach Werenski - 78 Damon Severson
9 Ivan Provorov - 44 Erik Gudbranson
23 Jake Christiansen - 55 David Jiricek
73 Jet Greaves
[32 Malcolm Subban]
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Phantoms Update
Until Friday night, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms found themselves in a somewhat similar situation to the Flyers: holding down a playoff spot but repeatedly unable to take advantage of opportunities to solidify their grip. On Friday, finally. the Phantoms took an important step toward doing so.
The Phantoms (29-27-9) earned a 3-2 overtime win over the Providence Bruins after trailing by a 2-0 score heading into the second period. Second period goals by Matt Miller (AHL debut, 1st goal) and Adam Brooks (11th) forged a 2-2 tie. After a scoreless third period, Tanner Laczynski (14t) won the game in sudden death. Cooper Marody assisted on the Brooks and Laczynski goals. Felix Sandström faced just 15 shots all game, stopping 13.
The Phantoms' win, paired with the Springfield Thunderbirds losing 3-0 to the Belleville Senators, gives Lehigh Valley a four-point lead over Springfield for the final Calder Cup playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. The Phantoms also hold a game in hand.
There's no time for the Phantoms to relax. On Saturday, the Phantoms are home to host the Cleveland Monsters (35-23-8). The Thunderbirds are in Quebec to play the Laval Rocket.
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