Updated— Friday January 21, 2022 @ 00:35hrs
Columbus managed to pull off the victory on the road in Philly. The final score was 2-1 in regulation time. It was Philly’s 10th straight loss;
Oliver Bjorkstrand opened the scoring in the second period with a backhander for his 12fh of the campaign. Boone Jenner and Sean Kuraly had the helpers.
Patrik Laine‘s roofer pushed him to his 6th in his shortened tenure. Jenner and Dean Kukan had the helpers.
The final goal was Gerry Mayhew’s first as a Flyer. Rasmus Ristolainen and Scott Laughton provided the apples on the the new look shot.
Elvis Merzlikins stopped 33 of 34 shots for a 0.971 save percentage. Carter Hart stopped 27 of 29 for a 0.931 save percentage.
Cam Atkinson was the player to watch for Philadelphia, registering 3 shots on Merzlikins in 20:37 of time on the ice.
Jakub Voracek was the player to watch for Columbus against his former team, and put up 2 shots with a +1 rating in 16:25 time on ice.
CBJ 3 Stars Of the Game
1. Elvis Merzlikins— 33 saves on 34 shots; win; 93.1% save percentage
2. Patrik Laine— GWG (6)
3. Oliver Bjorkstrand— goal (12)
Their next game is tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins. More to come…
Breaking: Cam Atkinson speaks to the press giving some juicy quotes prior to facing the team that drafted him.
Per Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch: “Cam Atkinson said there's no hard feelings between him and the #CBJ organization following the trade, but he also said he "didn't appreciate" not being given any kind of heads-up, especially while attending the Jackets' draft party for the first round at NWA.”
Per Aaron Portzline of the Athletic: “I was born to wear the Flyers jersey”
Per the Jackets Insider, Jeff Svoboda of NHL: “Cam Atkinson talking about the #CBJ fan base ahead of his first game ever vs. the Jackets: "The Fifth Line over there, they're great fans, and the community itself, we love Columbus. We plan on living in Columbus when I’m done playing hockey."
Some classy stuff about the fan base and organization, but also adding fuel to the fire with being born to the wear the Flyers jersey, when a Connecticut born player always was tied to Boston and played college with Boston College, but was drafted by Columbus and developed in Springfield, Massachusetts. Being the leading goal scorer for the Flyers, he could pull a heater on his former club, but could energize the Columbus locker room with these words of wisdom and energy.
The Columbus Blue Jackets conclude their current road trip tonight with their first meeting of the season with the Broad Street Bullies. It starts at 7pm at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers have been shocking my expectations this season, as I projected them to be first in the Metro after their adds.
The last time these teams played was February 2020 in a 5-1 regulation win. This was a Flyers team that still had Matt Niskanen in the NHL; and Tyler Pitlick before the expansion draft and his time in Arizona. The last goalie to play in between the pipes for Columbus was Matiss Kivlenieks.
Over the summer, the Flyers lost the following in free agency: goalie Brian Elliott to Tampa Bay; winger Andy Anderoff to the Islanders; defender Erik Gustafsson to the Blackhawks; and goalie Alex Lyon to Carolina.
Carsen Twarynski was in the expansion draft by Seattle; Nicolas Aube-Kubel was claimed by Colorado; and Nate Prosser retired before the new year.
The players traded to new homes were: Shayne Gostisbehere to Arizona; Phillipe Myers and Nolan Patrick to Nashville; Robert Hagg and a first round pick to Buffalo; and Jakub Voracek to Columbus.
The Flyers brought in a long list of veterans, skill, and leadership:
Defensemen Ryan Ellis, Keith Yandle, Adam Clendenning, Kevin Connauton, and Rasmus Ristolainen; ForwardsCam Atkinson, Derrick Brassard, Gerald Mayhew, Ryan Fitzgerald, Nate Thompson, Zack MacEwen, and Patrick Brown; and Goalie Martin Jones.
Philadelphia’s recipe seems to not be working, with speculation of captain Claude Giroux in the rumor mill. There’s still lots of time and hope, and things can be done with them in the best division in hockey and the better conference in the league.
Finally, with the return of Jakub Voracek to the Columbus lineup from COVID protocol and his first trip to Philadelphia since the trade, let’s see how his reception goes tonight.
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Joel Farabee—Claude Giroux—Cam Atkinson
Oskar Lindblom—Scott Laughton—Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk—Morgan Frost—Gerald Mayhew
Maxwell Willman—Connor Bunnanan—Zack MacEwen
Ivan Provorov—Justin Braun
Cam York—Travis Sanheim
Keith Yandle—Rasmus Ristolainen
Carter Hart
Martin Jones
Scratched— Nick Seeler
Injured— Samuel Morin, Ryan Ellis, Nathan Thompson, Sean Couturier, Patrick Brown, Kevin Connauton, Kevin Hayes, Tanner Laczynski, Ryan Fitzgerald
Taxi Squad— Kirill Ustimenko
Columbus Blue Jackets
Gustav Nyquist—Boone Jenner—Oliver Bjorkstrand
Patrik Laine—Alexandre Texier—Jakub Voracek
Emil Bemstrom—Jack Roslovic—Yegor Chinakov
Eric Robinson—Sean Kuraly—Max Domi
Zach Werenski—Andrew Peeke
Gavin Bayreuther—Jake Bean
Jake Christiansen—Dean Kukan
Elvis Merzlikins
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched— Gabriel Carlsson
Injured— Justin Danforth, Adam Boqvist, Cole Sillinger, Vladislav Gavrikov, Nathan Gerbe, Daniil Tarasov
Players to Watch
Philadelphia—
RW Cam Atkinson — Atkinson has 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points in 39 games played. Being brought into Philadelphia to save money on the cap, his main purpose in the black and orange is score goals, and that is what he has done. The more he scores, the better his stats and career goes.
Columbus—
RW Jake Voracek — the passer is back where he’s been the last 10 years, and in his game back in the lineup since COVID. On the second line tonight with Texier instead of Jenner, let’s see how the offense goes.
Thoughts?
More to come…
Fans: Follow me on Twitter @ZakMacBuzz for more…
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