The Flyers are closing out a home-and-home series with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday after a comeback win against them on Thursday. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)
Preparing to close out their second home-and-home series of the week, the show is on the other foot for the Philadelphia Flyers. After being the beneficiaries of a huge comeback win on Thursday, the Flyers will have a team out for revenge.
The Flyers gave away a game on Sunday against the Washington Capitals before storming back to win convincingly on Tuesday. With Thursday's win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Flyers will have to be prepared for an answer.
Just two days after the Flyers comeback, they are in Columbus facing the Blue Jackets again.
The Blue Jackets jumped out to a 3-0 lead through two periods on Thursday and had a 4-2 lead with 10 minutes left in the game. Goals were scored by Cam Atkinson, Jack Skille, Nick Foligno and Blake Comeau.
Atkinson and Foligno are tied for second on the team with 10 goals.
The Flyers did manage to halt Ryan Johanson's nine-game point streak on Thursday. However, he is still the Blue Jackets' top point man with 12 goals and 15 assists.
Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov are also two of the Blue Jackets top performers as well.
In an effort to respond to the Flyers comeback win, the Blue Jackets are getting some relief from a long list of injuries. Forward Marian Gaborik and defenseman James Wisniewski return from injured reserve.
The Flyers top line was clearly the best on Thursday. The top line of Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek and Michael Raffl was on the ice for four of the five goals. Giroux and Voracek were the two catalysts of the comeback.
The third line of Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Steve Downie may not have factored into the scoring on Thursday but are part of the reason the Flyers have made it back to .500. Read and Couturier have found the scoring touch lately and will be ones to watch, especially after getting several scoring chances on Thursday.
After Steve Mason allowed four goals on Thursday, and with another game coming on Monday night, expect Ray Emery to go in net. Emery is a career 3-0-1 with a 2.56 GAA against the Blue Jackets. Columbus will likely go with Curtis McElhinney again. McElhinney is 4-5-1 with a 2.52 GAA on the season.
Game Notes
- Thursday's game featured rare occurrences for both teams. For the Flyers, it marked just their second win when trailing after two – 2-11-0 – and the first regulation loss for the Blue Jackets when leading after two – 9-1-1.
- The Flyers are 12-2-3 when leading after two while the Blue Jackets are 1-13-0 when trailing after two.
- The Flyers power play ranks 18th in the league, but is fourth-best in the NHL when on the road. The Blue Jackets penalty kill ranks 16th, but is eighth-best on home ice.
- This is the Flyers first appearance in Columbus since Oct. 25, 2010. The Blue Jackets won, 2-1.
Flyers scratches: Hal Gill, Andrej Meszaros, Jay Rosehill, Vincent Lecavalier
Flyers Projected Lineup
Line 1: Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Jake Voracek
Line 2: Scott Hartnell-Brayden Schenn-Wayne Simmonds
Line 3: Matt Read-Sean Couturier-Steve Downie
Line 4: Zac Rinaldo-Chris VandeVelde-Adam Hall
D-Pair 1: Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn
D-Pair 2: Nick Grossmann-Mark Streit
D-Pair 3: Luke Schenn-Erik Gustafsson
Goalie: Ray Emery
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
Kevin Durso is the lead beat writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
