Zach Werenski

The Blue Jackets took the lead for good with 6:44 remaining in the third, as Elvis Merzlikins made 47 saves in dealing the Flyers a 4-2 loss on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center. 

For the last few games, everything has remained relatively similar of late, but the Flyers will get one face back in the lineup on Tuesday night as they open up a home-and-home with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It seems fitting that Claude Giroux’s seventh trip to the NHL All-Star Game and possibly final one as a Flyer ended with the Metropolitan Division securing a victory with Giroux as captain. Giroux scored twice in the championship game against the Central Division after scoring a goal and adding an assist in the first game of Saturday afternoon’s event to take home MVP honors.

For the second time in just 40 games, the Flyers have lost 10 straight games, taking the 2-1 defeat to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Cam Atkinson and Jake Voracek face their former teams for the first time on Thursday night. For the Flyers, it also may be the second time already this season that they reach double-digits on a winless streak.

For those who appreciate the fact that a player’s quality can’t be defined solely by numbers, Ivan Provorov’s performance on the ice backs it up. He’s not the indisputable best defensemen in the NHL, but he certainly didn’t deserve to be omitted from the NHL’s list of the top 20 defensemen for the 2019-20 season. So why was he left out?

Just as they did with Florida a week ago, the Flyers have a chance to create some separation with Columbus when they face each other again on Thursday night, as the Flyers look to complete a season sweep of the Blue Jackets on the road.

The Flyers currently hold the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with 71 points. That is just one point behind the opponent for the next two games, the Columbus Blue Jackets, who technically hold the first wildcard spot with 72 points though they are tied for third in the division with the Islanders.

The Flyers look to go into a brief break for Thanksgiving on a high note, traveling to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.