Flyers at Blue Jackets
Sergei Bobrovsky endured arguably the worst game of his career in his last outing, but the two-time Vezina Trophy winner always seems to bring his best when he faces the team with which he entered the NHL. Bobrovsky carries a 10-3-1 mark with two shutouts, a 1.91 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in 14 career encounters versus Philadelphia into Thursday's tilt as the Columbus Blue Jackets host the Flyers.
"He's unreal. He plays amazing against us every time," Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostibehere said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I think he's the hardest goalie to score on. He's athletic. He makes saves and your jaw drops (because) you wouldn't expect him to make them." Bobrovsky wasn't as stingy on Saturday, as he yielded all eight goals in an 8-2 setback to Tampa Bay. The Flyers haven't been faring well in the goaltending department since, arguably, current general manager Ron Hextall was between the pipes. Brian Elliott, who will get the nod on Thursday, struggled as the Flyers squandered a three-goal lead before Calvin Pickard sealed a 6-5 shootout win versus Florida on Tuesday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, FS Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (3-3-0): Wayne Simmonds scored twice on Tuesday to raise his goal total to a team-high five, but the burly forward essentially took himself out of the contest by jumping into a scrum during the second period and inadvertently hitting a linesman. "I didn't want to get the 10 (minute misconduct penalty), the 30-year-old told Philly.com. "I asked the ref and he said, 'You just kept going and my linesman got hit.' The linesmen get hit, they're gonna do that, so ..." Captain Claude Giroux, who also tallied twice to raise his team-leading point total to eight, collected two goals and two assists in four encounters with Columbus last season.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (3-2-0): Columbus' top line of Artemi Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cam Atkinson have accounted for six goals and 14 points this season, but coach John Tortorella isn't rushing to alter his lines in a bid to generate more offense elsewhere. "It's a constant monitoring, I guess, of where we're at," Tortorella said, per The Columbus Dispatch. "I know people always go, 'He's changing his lines.' It happens to all coaches. But then, when you're not changing your lines to try to get some offense, (people say) 'Why didn't he change his lines?'" Josh Anderson has tallied three times in five games this season, but did not dent the scoresheet in three meetings with the Flyers in 2017-18.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus captain Nick Foligno was held off the scoresheet in three encounters with Philadelphia last season.
2. Flyers C Nolan Patrick (upper body) wore a non-contact jersey in practice Wednesday and is eyeing a Saturday return versus New Jersey.
3. Both teams have struggled mightily on the penalty kill, with Philadelphia thwarting just 72.0 percent of opponents' power plays while Columbus has stopped 64.7 percent.