Blue Jackets bear down on Flyers (Mar 14, 2018)
The Columbus Blue Jackets can accomplish a couple of things when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night
A win would be the Blue Jackets' sixth in a row and a regulation victory would pull them into a tie with Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Columbus (37-28-5) moved into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference on Monday with a 5-2 home victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
Defenseman Seth Jones scored the winning goal in his third straight game and has seven points (four goals, three assists) in that span.
"He's turned into one of the league's top defenders," fellow defenseman Zach Werenski told NHL.com. "It's fun to watch, fun to be a part of. It's fun to play with him. It's a blast. It's kind of like a competition right now."
Defensemen have fueled the Blue Jackets' recent offensive surge. After struggling in January and early February, Columbus has scored three goals or more in 10 of 16 games, including all five during its current winning streak.
Led by Jones and Werenski (four goals), defensemen have scored eight of the Jackets' past 16 goals and combined for nine assists.
"In the league, to create more offense on a team that has really been starved for offense, you need to get help from your back end," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella told The Columbus Dispatch. "(Werenski) is finding his game. Jonesy is a Norris Trophy candidate. He's aggressive and he's confident. (Ian) Cole has kicked in some plays here.
"Everybody is really trying to be aggressive."
The Flyers (35-24-11) soared from December thru February, but have fizzled in March, posting a 1-5-1 record thus far.
They dropped a 3-2 home decision to Vegas on Monday night when Ryan Carpenter scored with 2:40 remaining in the third period. It was the second time in three games the Flyers lost on goal late in the third period.
"We've seen this story before," Flyers captain Claude Giroux told NHL.com. "It's frustrating. We played a hell of a game. We played the way we wanted to and everyone was going.
"A couple minutes left and they find a way to put it in. It's frustrating. We've got to stop doing this, but we know we can handle it and we've got to move forward from here."
Giroux and Wayne Simmonds scored for Philadelphia and Petr Mrazek made 26 saves. Giroux has eight points (three goals, five assists) during a seven-game point streak.
Despite their recent woes, the third-place Flyers largely control their fate. Of their 12 remaining games, eight are against Metropolitan Division teams and five are at home, beginning Thursday night.
"I think for us we need to realize we're in the driver's seat here and I think we just worry about ourselves, get some points and rest will take care of itself," Shayne Gostisbehere told the Courier Post. "We know the task at hand. We're not chasing anything. We're in a good spot here."
The Flyers posted two 2-1 victories over the Blue Jackets in February. Sean Couturier's overtime goal was the difference on Feb. 16 in Columbus, and Giroux and Nolan Patrick scored third-period goals as the Flyers rallied past the Blue Jackets on Feb. 22 in Philadelphia.
Mrazek is 2-3-1 with a 2.47 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage versus the Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky -- who stopped 38 shots against the Canadiens -- is 9-3-1 with a 1.82 GAA, a .935 save percentage and two shutouts against the Flyers.
