The Philadelphia Flyers (7-3-2) travel to face the Columbus Blue Jackets (3-9-0), who will be hoping to snap their losing run, at Nationwide Arena on Thursday. Philadelphia is coming off a 5-1 win over the Blues on Tuesday.
The Flyers committed four penalties in the game, though they held St. Louis without a power play goal. Five players found the net for the Flyers. Felix Sandstrom had a great performance with 27 saves (.964%) in the win.
Columbus dropped their fifth in a row, falling 5-1 to the Avalanche on Saturday. Boone Jenner netted the lone goal for the Blue Jackets. Joonas Korpisalo only had 40 saves on 45 shots against (.888%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Blue Jackets won two of the three games between the teams last season, although the Flyers were 4-1 victors in their final meeting in April. Travis Sanheim led Philadelphia with two points (0G 2A). Eric Robinson scored Columbus’ only goal. Martin Jones got the win, saving 26 of 27 shots (.962%).
FACING OFF
Philadelphia is averaging just 2.75 goals per game for the season, 28th in the NHL. The visitors will be looking to take advantage of a Blue Jackets team that is allowing 4.58 goals a game (31st). Meanwhile, Columbus has found the net 2.50 times a game on average, 31st in the league, and won’t find goals any easier to come by against the Flyers’ stout defense, which is holding opponents to 2.42 goals per game (4th). Philadelphia averages fewer shots/game (27.3) than most teams in the league, ranking 30th.
Columbus has struggled with stopping shots, ranking No. 32 with a team save percentage of .875%. The Blue Jackets’ 6.45% power play percentage is the worst in the league, while the Flyers rank 23rd with a conversion rate of 19.51%. When it comes to defending power plays, Philadelphia has the league’s seventh-ranked PK% at 82.93%, while Columbus is 14th at 78.95%.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 14 points this season, Travis Konecny is the top skater for the Flyers. He has five goals and nine assists in 12 games. In the net, Carter Hart (6-0-2) is Philadelphia’s top goaltender. He has a 1.97 GAA, third-best in the league, and a .946% save percentage, second-best.Johnny Gaudreau leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with nine points.
He has five goals and four assists in 12 games. Daniil Tarasov (1-3-0) has the best goals against average for Columbus at 3.57. He has a save percentage of .893%. Elvis Merzlikins (2-5-0) has played the most games in net for the Blue Jackets this season. He has a 4.81 GAA and a .863% save percentage.
HOME AND AWAY
Philadelphia is 3-2-1 away from Wells Fargo Center this season. Columbus is looking for a fifth straight win at Nationwide Arena this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
1st Period 3-Way Result: Flyers (+180)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
