Preview: Jackets searching for two more points in rematch against Flyers

GAME 61: BLUE JACKETS (30-25-5) AT FLYERS (31-19-10)
Location:Prudential Center, 7 P.M., Thursday
TV:Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Go (Jeff Rimer, Jody Shelley); NBC Sports Philadelphia,
Radio:97.1 FM & BlueJackets.com (Bob McElligott)
PHILADELPHIA - They didn't play all that great, but the Blue Jackets ended a three-game winless skid with a 2-1 win Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils.
Ultimately, that's all that matters during a tight race for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference with just 22 games left in the regular season.
"It's two points," Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "I don't care how we do it, it's two points."
The Blue Jackets did it the hard way against the Devils, being outshot by a combined 20-6 margin in the final two periods and 31-19 in the game - which ended a string of nine straight games Columbus had outshot its opponent.
"We're certainly not trying to play that way, not getting shots on goal, but we did a fairly good job of checking for a number of minutes in the third period, when we just weren't generating much," Tortorella said. "You win games different ways. We have lost some games when we've been lights out, and tonight we win a game when, for a number of minutes, we had struggled. But you take the two points and get the hell out of town."
That's exactly what they did, too, after surging past the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders into the East's second wild card. The Blue Jackets have 65 points in 60 games, while the Hurricanes (60 games) and Islanders (61 games) each have 64 points.
The Devils (70 points) have a five-point lead on Columbus for the first wild card, while the Philadelphia Flyers (72 points) are ahead of the Jackets by seven points for third in the Metropolitan Division.
The stage is set for yet another big game between Metro teams Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center, where the Flyers came from behind Monday to defeat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2, in overtime for their third straight win.
"That's where you make a name for yourself, is in the big games," Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones said. "It's not just the playoffs, but big shifts within a game, big moments. It's do or die. Every point counts at the end. I think it's going to be one of the tighter playoff races you're going to see from here on out. A point's probably going to decide it at the end, so we're going to need all we can get this season."

SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (1-0-1). This is the third game of the four-game season series. The Blue Jackets will return to Wells Fargo Center on Mar. 15 for the finale.
All-time (W-L-T-O): 16-10-3-1 overall; 5-8-1-0 in Philadelphia
WHO'S HOT
Blue Jackets: Rookie center Pierre-Luc Dubois had an assist on the game-winning goal against New Jersey and has added assists in the past two games. Dubois has seven points (three goals, four assists) in the past nine games.
Flyers: Jakub Voracek had two goals and an assist against Montreal, including the game-tying and game-winning goals scored with 1:25 left in regulation and 1:26 into overtime.
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
EYES ON: THE FLYERS
PROJECTED LINEUPS
BLUE JACKETS
Forwards
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner - Alex Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson
Markus Hannikainen - Lukas Sedlak - Zac Dalpe
Defensemen
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - Ryan Murray
Scott Harrington - David Savard
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Others: Jussi Jokinen, Nathan Gerbe, Taylor Chorney
Injured reserve: Nick Foligno (lower body), Dean Kukan (upper body), Markus Nutivaara (upper body)
NOTE: This was the Blue Jackets' lineup Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils. A better picture of the actual lineup won't be known until pregame warmup.
FLYERS
Forward lines
Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Jordan Weal - Nolan Patrick - Jakub Voracek
Oskar Lindblom - Scott Laughton - Michael Raffl
Jori Lehtera - Valtteri Filppula - Dale Weise
Defense pairings
Ivan Provorov - Shayne Gostisbehere
Robert Hagg - Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning - Radko Gudas
Goaltenders
Petr Mrazek
Alex Lyon
Others: Taylor Leier, Mark Alt, Wayne Simmonds (upper body)
Injured reserve:Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Brian Elliott (core muscle)
NOTE: This was Philadelphia's lineup Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens. Konecny will be a gametime decision. If he can't play, look for Raffl to possibly play right wing on the top line and Leier to enter the lineup in more of a checking-line role.