At the Rink: Blue Jackets at Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Columbus Blue Jackets forward Scott Hartnell will return to the lineup Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-O, CSN-PH).

Hartnell was a healthy scratch Friday in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, their third straight (0-2-1).

"I haven't said one word to him," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "I put the lineup on the board today. He knows he's in. I don't need to talk to him about that."

Hartnell has one goal and two assists in his past nine games but Tortorella said scratching Hartnell on Friday was about a slide in the veteran forward's performance. Tortorella said he's hoping any anger Hartnell felt from being scratched results in a higher, more emotional level of play Saturday.

"When I first came here, he was our most effective player with his personality, with his work habits, everything about him," Tortorella said. "It's the way we want to play. That dropped off. No athlete, especially a veteran guy that has played that many games, wants to be sat out. I hope he answers the right way and helps our team get into an emotional state here as we play these games."

Tortorella said veteran defenseman Fedor Tyutin will play after missing six games because of a broken nose sustained Nov. 20 against the Nashville Predators.

The Flyers will have two veteran forwards returning to their lineup, R.J. Umberger and Ryan White. Umberger has missed the past 12 games because of a lower-body injury sustained against the Winnipeg Jets. White has been out nine games because of an upper-body injury sustained Nov. 14 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Flyers sent forwards Nick Cousins and Colin McDonald to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

"The two guys coming out of our lineup, they did a great job," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "Team-first mentality, attention to detail, good energy; they did a great job. The guys that are coming in tonight, they have to go out and do the same thing."

The Flyers have won four straight, including a 4-3 overtime win against the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Hakstol said there was no hesitation in changing the lineup.

"When guys are healthy and they're ready -- not just healthy but when guys are ready -- and in this situation those guys are ready to come back into the lineup, that's when they come in," he said. "That comes with responsibility on their part. They're both veterans, they both know what it takes to come into the lineup and provide good play and provide a spark to the team. That's their responsibility tonight."

Here are the projected lineups:

BLUE JACKETS

Boone Jenner - Ryan Johansen - Brandon Saad

Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson

Scott Hartnell - William Karlsson - Nick Foligno

Gregory Campbell - Michael Chaput - Alexander Wennberg

Jack Johnson - David Savard

Fedor Tyutin - Dalton Prout

Andrew Bodnarchuk - Ryan Murray

Sergei Bobrovsky

Curtis McElhinney

Injured: David Clarkson (back), Cody Goloubef (jaw), Rene Bourque (upper body), Jared Boll (foot), Markus Hannikainen (shoulder)

Scratched: Kevin Connauton

FLYERS

Michael Raffl - Claude Giroux - Brayden Schenn

Matt Read - Sean Couturier - Wayne Simmonds

Chris VandeVelde - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Jakub Voracek

R.J. Umberger - Scott Laughton - Ryan White

Luke Schenn - Michael Del Zotto

Nick Schultz - Evgeny Medvedev

Brandon Manning - Shayne Gostisbehere

Steve Mason

Michal Neuvirth

Injured: Sam Gagner (upper body), Mark Streit (groin)

Scratched: Vincent Lecavalier

Suspended: Radko Gudas

Status report: Bobrovsky will start for the second straight game. He made 31 saves against the Panthers, and has allowed two goals or fewer in five straight games. ... The Blue Jackets sent forward Kerby Rychel and defenseman Justin Falk to Lake Erie of the American Hockey League on Saturday. ... The Blue Jackets did not have a morning skate. The Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA had an afternoon game at Wells Fargo Center. ... Streit skated at an optional morning skate at the Flyers' practice site in Voorhees, N.J. It was his second time on the ice since Nov. 17 surgery to repair a detached pubic plate. "I feel pretty good," he said. "It's been nice to get back on the ice; been a rough two weeks, 2 1/2 weeks. It's fun to be back in the room and around the guys. Skating is going well. I'm really surprised; feeling really awesome under the circumstances." He's expected to miss at least another 2-4 weeks. ... Mason, Neuvirth, Gudas, Gostisbehere, Lecavalier, Gagner, Laughton and Brayden Schenn took part in the morning skate.

Who's hot: Johansen has five goals and four assists in his past 10 games. ... Simmonds has four goals and two assists in his past three games. Two of the goals were game-winners.

---