PREVIEW: Blue Jackets end road trip in Philadelphia

The only thing the Blue Jackets didn’t do Thursday night was score. 

They can thank Sergei Bobrovsky for that. 

The former CBJ netminder turned in an exemplary performance in Sunrise, stopping 30 of 31 shots against – a couple of them spectacularly – as Florida posted a 2-1 overtime victory against the Blue Jackets as they closed out a Sunshine State swing. 

The Panthers added a pair of power-play goals – including one in overtime after a call on Adam Fantilli the Blue Jackets didn’t particularly agree with – and that was that, as solid performance by the Blue Jackets netted one point instead of two. Still, head coach Rick Bowness was pleased with his team’s body of work. 

"Very happy with the way we played,” Bowness said. “Listen, we gave up 16 shots on net for 60 minutes. We dominated the game. Give Bob credit; he was the difference in the game, it’s as simple as that. We had our chances in overtime and we just missed the net by inches, and they get the power play, but overall for 60 minutes, I’m very happy with what we saw. Some nights your goalie or their goalie is better than your shooters, and that was the case tonight.” 

It marked the second straight game in which the Blue Jackets were tight defensively and dominated the puck. In Tuesday night’s win at Tampa Bay, Columbus limited the Lightning to 18 shots on goal, then kept Florida to just 16 in regulation.  

The team’s forecheck has made it hard for opposing teams to even get out of their own end – the Blue Jackets have combined for 62 shots on goal in the two games, nearly doubling up the Lightning and Panthers – and pretty much nullified chances on the rush. If the Blue Jackets can play that kind of game in the 15 contests remaining down the stretch, a playoff bid is certainly within reach. 

“It starts with our structure,” captain Boone Jenner said. “If we’re in the right structure, our skill, our legs, our compete kind of take over. We get a lot of minutes in the O-zone and kind of hem teams in and be really hard to play against. When you’re defending hard, you seem to have the puck more, so kind of honing in on that.” 

The overtime loss in Sunrise extended the Blue Jackets’ point streak to eight (4-0-4), and the Blue Jackets now have points in 18 of 20 games (14-2-4) with Bowness behind the bench. With other results in the Eastern Conference that night, the Blue Jackets now just one point behind Boston for the final wild card spot and two behind Detroit, with the Penguins and Islanders also within reach in the Metropolitan Division race. 

In all, the Blue Jackets gained ground the last two nights, but Adam Fantilli said the only focus right now is getting two points on a nightly basis as they head into tonight’s game in Philadelphia. 

“You’re happy to get a point, but that’s the third time I’m standing here saying we’re happy to get a point,” Fantilli said. “Eventually it’s not good enough. We want two. We need two to get in the playoffs. We played good enough to get two, we just have to bear down on our chances.”

Scratches: Miles Wood, Danton Heinen, Erik Gudbranson (upper body injury), Egor Zamula  

Injured Reserve: D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as of Jan. 8)      

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets were off Friday after the travel to Philadelphia, so any potential changes to the lineup will come at the team’s Saturday morning skate. Bowness said Gudbranson, who left Monday's game against the Kings, could meet the team in Philadelphia after not playing the last two games.

This Day in CBJ History

March 14, 2001: Ron Tugnutt notches his third shutout of the team’s inaugural season, stopping all 30 shots against in a 3-0 victory vs. Calgary in Nationwide Arena. Mattias Timander scores the game-winning goal in the first period while Tyler Wright and Jamie Heward add power-play tallies later in the game. 

March 14, 2013: The National Hockey League announces a realignment plan that has Columbus playing in the Eastern Conference beginning in 2013-14. The Blue Jackets join a division featuring Carolina, New Jersey, the New York Islanders and Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington. 

March 14, 2023: Johnny Gaudreau caps a wild game in San Jose by scoring with 43 seconds left in overtime as the Blue Jackets claim a 6-5 victory. Gaudreau’s goal was his second goal and fifth point of the game, allowing him to tie the franchise record, while Boone Jenner also scores twice. 

The Numbers Game

Zach Werenski is the only NHL defenseman with at least 20 goals (20) and 60 points (68) on the season, tying for second among league blueliners in goals and placing second in points. Werenski has points in 24 of his last 28 games (11-27-38) as well as 35 of the last 42 (16-41-57). He leads NHL defensemen in multipoint games (22, tied for 11th overall in NHL). … Kirill Marchenko had a six-game point streak (4-5-9) snapped Thursday but has points in 11 of the last 13 games (6-9-15). He is one goal from 100 in his NHL career and two assists from 100 as well. ... Charlie Coyle has 10 goals and 26 points in the past 21 games as well as a 6-15-21 line in the last 15 contests, tying him seventh in the NHL in points in that span. He had a seven-game point streak snapped Thursday. ... Conor Garland has scored two goals in two of the last three games, making him the first player in team history with four goals in his first four contests with the team. … Adam Fantilli has goals in six of the last nine games and posted a 7-9-16 line in the last 15 games. ... Mathieu Olivier has eight goals in the last 14 games. ... Ivan Provorov has two goals and five points in the last five contests. ... Denton Mateychuk notched his 10th goal of the year Monday, making him just the seventh CBJ blueliner to reach double digits in a season and the third age 21 or younger (Werenski, Adam Boqvist). … Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 49 goals this season, the most in the NHL, and Columbus is one of four teams to have two defensemen score at least 10 goals this season joining Buffalo, Washington and Montreal. … Columbus has scored the first goal in 25 of the last 34 contests and is tied for the league by scoring first in 40 of 65 games overall. ... The Blue Jackets are 5-1 in shootouts this year. ... Miles Wood and Danton Heinen are each one goal away from 100 in their NHL careers. ... Boone Jenner has 204 career assists, tied with David Vyborny for third most in team history. 

Know The Foe: Philadelphia Flyers

Head coach: Rick Tocchet (First season) 

Team stats: Goals per game: 2.80 (T-24th) | Scoring defense: 3.08 (16th) | PP: 15.5 percent (32nd) | PK: 78.0 percent (22nd) 

The narrative: The Flyers have missed the playoffs five straight seasons and parted ways with head coach John Tortorella at the end of last season, bringing in Tocchet – the 2023-24 Jack Adams Award winner and an 11-year Flyer as a player – to take over. Not many pundits expected the team to return to the postseason entering the year, but the Flyers are trying to hang in there in the Eastern Conference, sitting four points behind the Blue Jackets. 

Scoring leaders: The perennially consistent Travis Konecny leads the way with a 24-34-58 line thanks to 10 goals in his last 16 games, and Konecny has 20 goals and 38 points in 31 career games vs. Columbus. Trevor Zegras had back-to-back 60-point seasons in Anaheim but had struggled to find that form the past two years, resulting in him being traded this offseason to the Flyers; it’s been Philly’s gain, as the 24-year-old is next with 22 goals and 54 points. Owen Tippett has 22 goals among 40 points, while Travis Sanheim (6-28-22) is the top-scoring defenseman. 

In net: Goaltending has been a perennial trouble spot for the Flyers, but the addition of Dan Vladař has helped stabilize things, as he has posted a 21-11-6 record, 2.50 GAA and .904 save percentage. Samuel Ersson is 10-10-5 with a 3.30 GAA and .863 SV%. 

What's new: The Flyers struggled through the start of 2026, winning just five of 16 games going into the Olympic break, but they’ve found their footing since then with a 6-3-0 record since the return. Four of those wins came in extra time, but they all count, and Philadelphia comes into this one having beat Washington and Minnesota in its last two games. The Flyers will need quite a rally to keep pace in the East, but they have remained in the discussion.  

Trending: Columbus won the series opener this year Jan. 28 in Nationwide Arena, overcoming a Konecny hat trick to take a 5-3 victory. It’s been a pretty even series the last four-plus years – Columbus is 9-5-2 in 16 games in that span – and the teams have split the last eight games in the City of Brotherly Love; Columbus is 2-0-1 in the last three.

Former CBJ: The only former Blue Jacket to see action for the Flyers this season is Lane Pederson, a forward who has played in the last five games without a point. Philadelphia did acquire 2022 CBJ first-round pick David Jiricek in a deal at the trade deadline, but he remains with the team’s AHL squad.