Flyers at Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets appear to have put a lengthy slump behind them and the Philadelphia Flyers would like to do the same when they close out a five-game road trip in Columbus on Tuesday. Even though the Flyers have won only twice in 12 contests (2-8-2), they showed signs of breaking out of their doldrums on the California portion of their trek. Philadelphia ended a nine-game road losing streak with Saturday's 2-1 win at Los Angeles.
Ex-Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky ignited the current hot streak for the Blue Jackets, winning all three starts to earn the NHL's Second Star of the Week. The 2012-13 Vezina Trophy winner set a franchise record with 52 saves before stopping all four shootout attempts to complete a home-and-home sweep of Florida and followed that with a 33-save effort in a 3-1 victory over Tampa Bay, the league's highest-scoring team. Columbus lost at Philadelphia on Nov. 22 to halt a four-game winning streak in the series.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, FSN Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (9-13-4): In addition to the nine-game road skid, Philadelphia also halted a six-game winless drought (0-4-2) Saturday behind a 37-save effort from former Columbus netminder Steve Mason, whose only victory in his previous eight starts came against the Blue Jackets. "We can still get better. We need to get better," Mason said. "We'll just take the good feeling that we got from it." Wayne Simmonds had scored only once in 10 games before tallying three times in his last two to give him a team-high 11 goals.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (9-15-2): Columbus has been ravaged by injuries but will get a key player back with the expected return of center Brandon Dubinsky, who will make his season debut after undergoing abdominal surgery on Oct. 8. Dubinsky, a two-time 20-goal scorer with the New York Rangers, had 16 tallies and 50 points in 2013-14 in his first full season with the Blue Jackets. “I think there’s lots of excitement," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "He’s big and strong. He can skate with tenacity ... he brings some emotion.”
OVERTIME
1. Bobrovsky is 2-1-0 with a 2.02 goals-against average and one shutout versus Philadelphia.
2. Mason, the Calder Trophy winner with Columbus in 2008-09, is 2-2-0 with a 3.06 GAA versus his former team.
3. Philadelphia has scored a power-play goal in four straight games.