Game Preview: Philadelphia Flyers at Columbus Blue Jackes
The CBJ have an immediate chance to respond to last night’s gut-punch of a loss
Last night was really great for two periods. Nationwide Arena was rocking and the Jackets were playing “good team” hockey against another good team. Then that third period happened. I was expecting Columbus to dominate the third period like they have of late. Instead they got thoroughly outplayed by the Rangers and gave up that awful turnover goal at the end that turned my stomach.
The good news: no time to wallow in that loss. If they want to avoid their first three game losing streak of the season, the time is NOW. This is the biggest stretch of adversity they’ve faced this season, and Nick Foligno knows they have to respond:
Here it is. No one feels good about this game. We haven't had this situation in a while, and so that's why I'm excited about how we're going to answer. If we've grown, we're going to see it.
Also good news? Sergei Bobrovsky back in net. Hopefully he’s well rested after a bad game on Thursday, and is ready to excel against his former team.
The Flyers ended a five game losing streak of their own by defeating Tampa Bay last night, 4-2. Michal Neuvirth started in goal last night, which means we’ll face our good friend Steve Mason today.
Here’s What You Need to Know:
Sunday, January 8, 2017 - 6:00 EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: CD 102.5 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Broad Street Hockey
Columbus Blue Jackets, 27-7-4, 58 points, 1st Metro, 1st East, 1st NHL
vs.
Philadelphia Flyers, 21-15-5, 47 points, 5th Metro, 6th East
Season Series
01/08/17 PHI @ CBJ
03/13/17 CBJ @ PHI
03/25/17 PHI @ CBJ
04/08/17 CBJ @ PHI
Stats
| Philadelphia | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.88 (7) | GPG | 3.37 (3) |
| 3.00 (26) | GAPG | 2.18 (3) |
| 21.7% (9) | PP% | 27.2% (1) |
| 81.3% (18) | PK% | 81.7% (15) |
| 50.91% (12) | EV Corsi % | 50.21% (15) |
| 98.3 (26) | EV PDO | 102.6 (3) |
| Wayne Simmonds, 17 | G Leader | Cam Atkinson, 19 |
| Jakub Voracek, 26 | A Leader | Alexander Wennberg, 26 |
| Jakub Voracek, 39 | P Leader | Cam Atkinson, 39 |
| Wayne Simmonds, 67 | PIM Leader | Josh Anderson, 43 |
| 8-9-2 | Home / Road | 15-4-1 |
| 3-5-2 | Last 10 | 8-2-0 |
Projected Lineups
| Brandon Saad | Alexander Wennberg | Nick Foligno |
| Boone Jenner | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Matt Calvert | William Karlsson | Josh Anderson |
| Scott Hartnell | Lukas Sedlak | Sam Gagner |
| Zach Werenski | Seth Jones |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Ryan Murray | Markus Nutivaara |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Curtis McElhinney |
| Michael Raffl | Claude Giroux | Matt Read |
| Jakub Voracek | Sean Coutourier | Travis Konecny |
| Wayne Simmonds | Brayden Schenn | Dale Weise |
| Chris Vandevelde | Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | Boyd Gordon |
| Michael Del Zotto | Radko Gudas |
| Andrew MacDonald | Ivan Provorov |
| Shayne Gstisbehere | Nick Schultz |
| Steve Mason |
| Michal Neuvirth |