Flyers-Blue Jackets: Game 61 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Columbus Blue Jackets	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	60	20	50	70	Artemi Panarin	60	16	32	48
Jake Voracek	60	13	55	68	Seth Jones	60	8	28	36
Sean Couturier	60	29	31	60	Oliver Bjorkstrand	60	10	22	32
Shayne Gostisbehere	56	10	37	47	Pierre-Luc Dubois	60	13	16	29
Wayne Simmonds	59	20	17	37	Josh Anderson	58	17	11	28

 

Player to Watch
19 Nolan Patrick	8 Zach Werenski
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, E	Last 5 Games: 0 G, 4 A, 4 P, +1

 

It was no problem for Nolan Patrick filling in for Wayne Simmonds, as he instantly made an impact in Simmonds' role on the top power-play unit. Patrick has goals in back-to-back games, but for several weeks now has been looking like the player he was expected to be out of the draft. With the rookie heating up, he's not only worth watching, but a joy to watch.

 

Zach Werenski has no goals and just five assists in 15 games since Jan. 12, but his skating ability and offensive mindset makes him such a dangerous player. Werenski hasn't scored a goal since Dec. 29 and the Flyers have a knack for allowing snakebitten players to snap out of their struggles.

 

Goalie Matchup
34 Petr Mrazek	72 Sergei Bobrovsky
8-7-3, 2.89 GAA, .910 SV%	25-19-5, 2.46 GAA, .919 SV%

It's the new guy in goal, as Petr Mrazek makes his Flyers debut. Mrazek has wins in three of his last six starts, allowing one goal in each win. His losses haven't been pretty, with at least three goals allowed in each of the last three losses, but playing behind Detroit's shaky defense has been an issue. The Flyers have shown better defensive structure this season, despite their last two games being poor in that area. Regardless, it's a new opportunity for Mrazek, and he'll be looking to make a good first impression.

It's no secret what Sergei Bobrovsky can do. Columbus relies heavily on the netminder with their low-scoring output and Bobrovsky tends to deliver. Bobrovsky has wins in three of his last five starts and aside from a rough loss to Pittsburgh, has allowed two goals or less in four of the last five games. The only other game where he allowed more than one goal was the Flyers overtime win last Friday.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Brian Elliott, Michal Neuvirth, Wayne Simmonds, Travis Konecny

Scratches: Mark Alt

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	12 Michael Raffl
40 Jordan Weal	19 Nolan Patrick	93 Jake Voracek
54 Oskar Lindblom	21 Scott Laughton	20 Taylor Leier
15 Jori Lehtera	51 Valtteri Filppula	22 Dale Weise
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
8 Robert Hagg	47 Andrew MacDonald
23 Brandon Manning	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
34 Petr Mrazek

Lineup Notes

The Flyers said Wednesday that despite missing practice on Wednesday, Travis Konecny was probable for Thursday's game. While he did take the ice for the morning skate, he didn't stay on the ice long and appeared to still be in pain, which means he is likely out for the game. Taylor Leier will come in to replace him in the lineup. It was an optional morning skate, so lines are not yet known.

Blue Jackets Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nick Foligno, Markus Nutivaara, Dean Kukan

Scratches: Jussi Jokinen, Taylor Chorney

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
9 Artemi Panarin	18 Pierre-Luc Dubois	13 Cam Atkinson
38 Boone Jenner	10 Alex Wennberg	28 Oliver Bjorkstrand
11 Matt Calvert	17 Brandon Dubinsky	77 Josh Anderson
37 Markus Hannikainen	45 Lukas Sedlak	36 Zac Dalpe
Defense
8 Zach Werenski	3 Seth Jones
7 Jack Johnson	27 Ryan Murray
4 Scott Harrington	58 David Savard
Goalie
72 Sergei Bobrovsky

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (6th, 17th at home), Blue Jackets (31st, 31st on road)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (28th, 29th at home), Blue Jackets (27th, 31st on road) 
• Recent History vs. Blue Jackets
  • Dec. 23, 2017 – Blue Jackets 2, Flyers 1 (F/SO) (at CBJ)
  • Feb. 16, 2018 – Flyers 2, Blue Jackets 1 (F/OT) (at CBJ)
• Flyers leaders vs. Blue Jackets
  • Claude Giroux – 23 GP, 6 G, 13 A, 19 P
  • Jake Voracek – 19 GP, 5 G, 10 A, 15 P
  • Sean Couturier – 20 GP, 6 G, 6 G, 12 P
  • Petr Mrazek – 5 GP, 1-3-1, 2.79 GAA
• Milestone Watch
  • Sean Couturier needs one goal to reach 100 for his career.
  • Shayne Gostisbehere needs three assists to reach 100 in his career.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 93.3 WMMR