Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Philadelphia Flyers Pick & Prediction DECEMBER 21st 2024
Preview and Prediction
The Philadelphia Flyers have only won two of their last eight games, but one of those victories came against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Flyers are hoping to replicate that success on Saturday as they face off against the Blue Jackets for the second time this season.
Their first meeting on December 10th resulted in a 5-3 win for the Flyers, with Travis Konecny scoring twice and Morgan Frost adding a goal and an assist.
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After their win against Columbus, the Flyers went on to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1, but have since lost three consecutive games. In their most recent game, they suffered a 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, giving up five unanswered goals in the process.
"We've made some mistakes and we need to clean it up," said Flyers coach John Tortorella, who was formerly the coach of the Blue Jackets. "I thought we played well for the first 40 minutes, but we need to find a way to play a full 60 minutes."
The Flyers are expected to start Samuel Ersson in goal on Saturday after Aleksei Kolosov allowed six goals in their last game. Ersson previously earned a win against Columbus earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets have struggled recently, losing eight of their last nine games before their 4-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Goalie Elvis Merzlikins made an impressive 40 saves in the win, catching the attention of his coaches and teammates.
"He was outstanding tonight," said Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski, despite being outshot 42-20 by the Devils. "If it wasn't for his saves and how focused he was, the outcome could have been very different. I'm proud of the way we played, but I'm even more proud of the way he played."
Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason was also impressed with Merzlikins' performance, stating, "That's his job, and he did it very well tonight."
If Ersson starts in goal for the Flyers, he will be looking to improve on his recent performances, having allowed 15 goals in his last four starts since returning from a lower-body injury.
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On the offensive side, Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov has been struggling, going four games without a point and having a collective minus-8 rating in the last three games. Teammate Sean Couturier can relate, as he has also been struggling to find the back of the net, going 10 games without a goal.
For the Blue Jackets, Kirill Marchenko has only scored one goal in the last 10 games, but has recorded points in seven of his last eight games. Sean Monahan also broke out of a scoring slump in their last game, scoring twice after going nine games without a goal.
"Things haven't been going our way lately," said Monahan. "It was time for us to step up and make a difference."
Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Travis Konecny collected a goal and two assists to propel the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday in the opener of a home-and-home series.
Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek and defenseman Philippe Myers also tallied for the Flyers, who leapfrogged Columbus and the idle New York Islanders into third place in the Metropolitan Division. Philadelphia will vie for a four-game season sweep of Columbus on Thursday when it visits Ohio.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux set up Voracek's goal midway into the third period for his 235th career power-play assist, passing Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke for the franchise record.
Second-year Philadelphia goaltender Carter Hart finished with 28 saves to improve to 15-2-2 at home this season.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his 13th goal in 16 games to boost his team-leading total to 20 for the Blue Jackets, who have dropped a season-high six in a row (0-3-3).
Rookie Elvis Merzlikins yielded four goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Matiss Kivlenieks (two saves on three shots).
Philadelphia opened the scoring in unconventional fashion, as Hayes' shot from behind the goal line caromed off both the right skate of rookie defenseman Andrew Peeke and the helmet of Merzlikins before going into the net. Hayes' 18th goal, at 3:28 of the first period, snapped a personal six-game point drought.
The Flyers doubled the advantage just 62 seconds later.
Couturier lost control of the puck as he attempted to shift to his backhand on a partial breakaway. The puck, however, continued to slide forward and found its way between the pads of Merzlikins for Couturier's 18th goal of the season and fifth in his past six games.
Myers gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead at 12:32 of the second period. He skated through the right circle before his attempted centering feed caromed into the net for his fourth goal of the season and first in 36 games.
Bjorkstrand trimmed the Blue Jackets' deficit to 3-1 under five minutes later.
Konecny chased Merzlikins by scoring his team-leading 20th goal at 3:40 of the third period. Voracek's tally at 10:14 of the third period was his 12th of the season.