5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Blue Jackets

WILD CARD TRACKER
1. NYR: 94 pts, 8 games remaining
2. NYI: 82 pts, 9 games remaining
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3. BOS: 82 pts, 8 games remaining
4. TBL: 81 pts, 8 games remaining
5. CAR: 77 pts, 10 games remaining
6. PHI: 76 pts, 9 games remaining
7. FLA: 75 pts, 9 games remaining
1. HELLO METRO
The Flyers play eight of their last nine games against the Metropolitan Division beginning with today's game in Columbus… They own an 8-12-2 mark against the Metro, winning two of their last three games… The Blue Jackets play the final game in a stretch of 5-of-7 games vs. the Metro and are 8-0-1 in their last nine games against division opponents, while posting an overall record of 17-6-2.
2. GOING THE DISTANCE
This is the third of four meetings and final game at Columbus with the Flyers going 0-1-1 in the season series… The last time they met in Columbus, Brayden Schenn scored with 17 seconds left to send it to overtime but Columbus prevailed, 2-1… The Flyers and Blue Jackets have played five straight games that have gone past regulation at Nationwide Arena dating back to December of 2014… The Flyers lost all five games, and have dropped nine straight when playing at Columbus, going 0-5-4… The last time the Flyers won at Nationwide Arena came on Dec. 13, 2005 by a score of 3-1.

3. SPREADING THE WEALTH
Columbus is the only NHL team with eight players on their roster with 40 points or more… The Blue Jackets are in the NHL's Top 5 in both goals scored (229) and goals-per-game (3.14), while ranking second in the NHL for the fewest goals allowed (169) and goals-allowed per-game (2.32).
4. SPREADING THE POWER-PLAY WEALTH
The Flyers currently rank fifth in the NHL with the most power-play goals scored (49) and have two players in the Top 3 in power-play goals scored - Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn each with 15, while Claude Giroux is tied for third in power-play assists (23) and fourth in power-play points (28)… Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere ranks ninth among all NHL defensemen with 20 points on the power-play and tied for fourth with 18 assists on the man advantage.
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (LW: #10 - Brayden Schenn)
Schenn comes into today's game with points in five of his last six games, posting six points (3g-3a) in that stretch… He has two of the Flyers four goals in the season series against Columbus and is currently riding a four-game point streak against the Blue Jackets dating back to last season… In total, he has 11 points (6g-5a) in 15 career games against Columbus.
BLUE JACKETS (G: #72 - Sergei Bobrovsky)
Bobrovsky has an overall record of 39-13-5 and leads all NHL goaltenders with 39 wins, as well as his 2.02 goals-against average and .932 save percentage… Recently, he has earned a point in the standings in 10 straight games, going 8-0-2 while posting a 1.18 GAA and .963 save percentage with three shutouts… Bobrovsky also owns a lifetime mark of 7-1-0 against the Flyers (1.85 GAA & .936 sv pct.).
TODAY AT 50
On March 25, 1996… Ron Hextall became the first Flyers' goaltender since Bernie Parent to record shutouts in back-to-back games… Hextall turned back all 21 shots he faced in a 3-0 win at the Spectrum over the Hartford Whalers. On the same night, Eric Lindros became the fifth Flyers player to record 100 points in a season, joining Bobby Clarke, Rick MacLeish, Bill Barber, and Mark Recchi.
QUICK STATS
Season Series: 0-1-1
All-Time Record: 25 gp (9-9-4-4)
Leading Scorers:
PHI: 56pts, Voracek (18g-38a)
CBJ: 60pts, Atkinson (33g-27a)
Power Play:
(PHI: 49-for-251, 19.5%, 14th)
(CBJ: 41-for-194, 21.1%, T-9th)
Penalty Kill:
(PHI: 175-of-220, 79.5%, 22nd)
(CBJ: 164-for-198, 82.8%, 10th)