2. A NEW ERA
The Flyers are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly a month (Nov. 8-10) and come into tonight playing the first game in the "Chuck Fletcher Era" of the franchise after he was named the ninth general manager in team history on Monday... Fletcher's team will be looking to get him his 360th regular season win and 800th point as a GM after posting a 359-265-80 record for 798 points during nine seasons at the helm of the Minnesota Wild where his team made the playoffs in each of his last six seasons - the second longest active streak in the NHL.
3. JACKETS FEELING BLUE
Columbus is looking to snap a two-game losing skid tonight after dropping a 9-6 defeat at the hands of the Calgary Flames in their last outing... The Blue Jackets have not lost three straight games yet this season and are looking to avoid their first three-game skid since February of last season (Feb. 14-18, 2018), a streak in which the Flyers contributed to... Despite the two-game skid, Columbus sits in second place in the Metro at 32 points, and combined with a Washington Capitals loss (33pts), could move into first place tonight with a win.... Columbus has a better road record (8-5-1) than home (7-5-1) but they have also dropped three of their last four road games.
4. THIS IS US
This is the second meeting of the year, and first on home ice for the Flyers against the Blue Jackets, after suffering a 6-3 loss on Oct. 18 in which Columbus scored five of their six goals in the second and third period... Both teams are averaging over three goals per-game AND goals-allowed per-game this season - The Flyers are averaging exactly three goals per-game through 25 games this season, which is up from 2.80 through 25 games last season, but are third-highest in the NHL at 3.52 goals-allowed per game, up from 3.06 last season... Columbus ranks seventh in the NHL in both goals-for (3.56) and goals-allowed (3.37) through 27 games.
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (RW: #11 - Travis Konecny)
Konecny has goals in back-to-back games, which also gives him five of his eight goals on the season in his last six outings... He also has eight points (5g-3a) in his last six contests... He tallied a goal and an assist in the first meeting with Columbus this season, and has the second-most points-per-game against the Blue Jackets (.88) in his career with seven points (3g-4a) in eight total games.
BLUE JACKETS (RW: #13 - Cam Atkinson)
The 5'8", 179-pound forward comes into tonight with an 11-game point streak in which he has posted 13 goals and 19 points, including five multi-point games... He leads the Blue Jackets in both goals (19) and overall scoring with 30 points... His 19 goals are tied for 5th in the Rocket Richard race... Atkinson had two goals in the last meeting against the Flyers, which was in Columbus, but he has five goals in his last four games playing in Philadelphia.
