Blue Jackets at Flyers preview

BLUE JACKETS (37-28-5) at FLYERS (35-24-11)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, FS-O, NHL.TV

The Blue Jackets, who can match their longest winning streak this season, are one point behind the New Jersey Devils, who hold the first wild card, but the Devils will have played one fewer game after Thursday.
Columbus also is two points behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division, but the Flyers own the tiebreaker.
Philadelphia, 1-5-1 in its past seven games after a six-game winning streak, is four points behind the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins in the Metropolitan Division.

Players to watch

Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones has seven points (four goals, three assists) in a three-game goal and point streak.
Flyers forward Claude Giroux has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a seven-game point streak.

They said it

"If you can't enjoy the situation you're in, feeling good about your game and enjoy yourself trying to get this done, then it has to be an awful way to live as a hockey player. They feel the pressure of it, but you need to temper that and try to enjoy it and allow yourself to play." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"Tonight is probably going to be our [most fun] game with everything going on. We've just got to be excited about this." -- Flyers forward Claude Giroux

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Sonny Milano -- Nick Foligno -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Boone Jenner -- Alexander Wennberg -- Thomas Vanek
Matt Calvert -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Mark Letestu
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Jack Johnson -- Markus Nutivaara
Ian Cole -- David Savard
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched:Ryan Murray, Taylor Chorney, Scott Harrington, Markus Hannikainen, Lukas Sedlak
Injured:Dean Kukan (upper body), Josh Anderson (knee)

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom -- Nolan Patrick -- Jakub Voracek
Michael Raffl -- Valtteri Filppula -- Wayne Simmonds
Jori Lehtera -- Scott Laughton -- Matt Read
Ivan Provorov -- Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim -- Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning -- Radko Gudas
Petr Mrazek
Alex Lyon
Scratched: Jordan Weal, Dale Weise, Taylor Leier
Injured: Brian Elliott (lower body), Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Johnny Oduya (upper body), Robert Hagg (lower body)

Status report

The Blue Jackets did not hold a morning skate Thursday. … Jones is expected to play after not practicing Wednesday. … Elliott was on the ice in full pads before the morning skate and took shots from goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh. It was his first time facing shots since having core muscle surgery Feb. 13.

Stat pack

Panarin has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak and 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in his past 12 games. … Voracek has four points (two goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak.