(Photo: Kate Frese)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
A win on Tuesday moved the Flyers ahead of the Buffalo Sabres in the standings. The Flyers have a ways to go before the pass the next team in front of them, but they can put a dent into things on Thursday night.
The Columbus Blue Jackets may have loaded up at the trade deadline, but they currently sit outside of the playoff picture with 19 games to play. The Flyers are six points behind Columbus, looking to cut into that margin.
Game time is at 7 p.m.
Team Leaders
| Philadelphia Flyers | GP | G | A | P | Columbus Blue Jackets | GP | G | A | P |
| Claude Giroux | 63 | 19 | 46 | 65 | Artemi Panarin | 59 | 24 | 45 | 69 |
| Sean Couturier | 61 | 25 | 34 | 59 | Matt Duchene | 53 | 28 | 32 | 60 |
| Jake Voracek | 63 | 17 | 37 | 54 | Cam Atkinson | 60 | 35 | 24 | 59 |
| Travis Konecny | 63 | 18 | 20 | 38 | Pierre-Luc Dubois | 62 | 23 | 30 | 53 |
| James van Riemsdyk | 47 | 17 | 14 | 31 | Ryan Dzingel | 58 | 22 | 23 | 45 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 23 Oskar Lindblom | 95 Matt Duchene |
| Last 5 Games: 4 G, 1 A, 5 P, +3 | Last 5 Games: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P, -2 |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 37 Brian Elliott | 72 Sergei Bobrovsky |
| 18 GP, 8-7-0, 2.51 GAA, .919 SV% | 46 GP, 26-19-1, 2.78 GAA, .907 SV% |
Brian Elliott made 34 saves in Tuesday's win, continuing his recent hot stretch since returning from injury. He gets another start on Thursday night, looking to keep the Flyers winning ways going.
A loss on Tuesday was Sergei Bobrovsky's first slip-up in a while. He had back-to-back shutouts over the weekend against Ottawa and San Jose. He has four wins in his last seven games, but three of those wins have been shutouts. He's also had the Flyers number all season with wins in all three meetings.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Injuries: Carter Hart, Michal Neuvirth
Scratches: Andrew MacDonald, Sam Morin
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 28 Claude Giroux | 19 Nolan Patrick | 11 Travis Konecny |
| 23 Oskar Lindblom | 14 Sean Couturier | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 25 James van Riemsdyk | 21 Scott Laughton | 38 Ryan Hartman |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 10 Corban Knight | 44 Phil Varone |
| Defense | ||
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 6 Travis Sanheim | |
| 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 61 Phil Myers | |
| 8 Robert Hagg | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| Goalie | ||
| 37 Brian Elliott |
Lineup Notes
The Flyers will go back to the 12 forward, six defenseman lineup. Andrew MacDonald comes out of the lineup and Phil Varone returns.
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
Injuries: Ryan Murray
Scratches: Markus Hannikainen, Lukas Sedlak, Alexander Wennberg, Dean Kukan, Keith Kinkaid
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 9 Artemi Panarin | 18 Pierre-Luc Dubois | 13 Cam Atkinson |
| 19 Ryan Dzingel | 95 Matt Duchene | 28 Oliver Bjorkstrand |
| 71 Nick Foligno | 38 Boone Jenner | 77 Josh Anderson |
| 50 Eric Robinson | 20 Riley Nash | 17 Brandon Dubinsky |
| Defense | ||
| 8 Zach Werenski | 3 Seth Jones | |
| 65 Markus Nutivaara | 58 David Savard | |
| 4 Scott Harrington | 54 Adam McQuaid | |
| Goalie | ||
| 72 Sergei Bobrovsky |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (23rd, 29th on road), Blue Jackets (26th, 27th at home)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (28th, T-25th on road), Blue Jackets (T-3rd, 9th at home)
- Recent History vs. Blue Jackets
- Oct 18, 2018 – Blue Jackets 6, Flyers 3 (at CBJ)
- Dec. 6, 2018 – Blue Jackets 4, Flyers 3 (F/OT) (at PHI)
- Dec. 22, 2018 – Blue Jackets 4, Flyers 3 (at PHI)
- Flyers Leaders vs. Blue Jackets
- Claude Giroux – 28 GP, 9 G, 18 A, 27 P
- Travis Konecny – 10 GP, 3 G, 6 A, 9 P
- James van Riemsdyk – 18 GP, 8 G, 6 A, 14 P
- Brian Elliott – 11 GP, 6-3-2, 2.26 GAA, .916 SV%
- Milestone Watch
- Radko Gudas needs one point to reach 100 for his career.
Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
