Goaltender Steve Mason will start for the Flyers. The former Blue Jackets player made 23 saves in a 4-1 win at the New York Islanders on Monday that moved Philadelphia to within a point of the Red Wings and three points back of the Islanders for the first wild card.
"He's able to do it. No concerns," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "Obviously it's not easy. We got in at 2 o'clock in the morning but he's ready to go in and do a good job."
Goalie Michal Neuvirth is out with a lower-body injury, so the other option was Anthony Stolarz making his NHL debut in a building where the Flyers have lost seven straight games since Dec. 13, 2005.
The Blue Jackets will be rested and ready even if they are not at full strength. They are looking to avenge a 6-0 loss in Philadelphia on March 5.
Forward Nick Foligno will be a game-time decision for the Blue Jackets because of illness but center Alex Wennberg returns from a lower-body injury that forced him to miss the 2-1 loss at the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
Also, No. 1 goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky will play after sitting Sunday in favor of rookie Joonas Korpisalo.
"When we went into [the Flyers'] building they embarrassed us," Columbus left wing Brandon Saad said. "We're home now so we need to play well against a team that's doing very well right now."
A Blue Jackets' regulation loss and a Detroit win at Tampa Bay would eliminate Columbus from the postseason race.
Columbus coach John Tortorella doesn't embrace the role of spoiler as much as trying to get the Blue Jackets to finish strong.
"They're a good team and they're playing very well right now. Do I want to beat them? Yeah," he said of the Flyers. "As far as the spoiler role, not so much. Do you want to be one of those teams that teams rolls over as they get in the playoffs? No.
"I don't think we were bad," Tortorella said. "We didn't create enough offense but as I watched the tape yesterday, we were sloppy in the game. If we're sloppy like that tonight against a team playing its best hockey, then we're in trouble."
Here are the projected lineups:
FLYERS
Brayden Schenn - Claude Giroux - Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl - Sean Couturier - Sam Gagner
Jakub Voracek - Nick Cousins - Matt Read
Scott Laughton - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Ryan White
Andrew MacDonald - Shayne Gostisbehere
Nick Schultz - Mark Streit
Brandon Manning - Radko Gudas
Steve Mason
Anthony Stolarz
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Michael Del Zotto (wrist)
Scratched: R.J. Umberger, Evgeny Medvedev, Jordan Weal, Chris VandeVelde
BLUE JACKETS
Brandon Saad - Brandon Dubinsky - Nick Foligno
Matt Calvert - Boone Jenner - Cam Atkinson
Scott Hartnell - Alexander Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Gregory Campbell - Michael Chaput - William Karlsson
Ryan Murray - Dalton Prout
Fedor Tyutin - Seth Jones
David Savard - Cody Goloubef
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: Rene Bourque, Justin Falk, Jared Boll
Injured: Jack Johnson (shoulder), David Clarkson (back), Curtis McElhinney (knee)
Status report:Hakstol said putting VandeVelde back into the lineup will be a game-time decision. VandeVelde was suspended two games for an elbow to Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews. "We'll dress 13 forwards for warm-ups," Hakstol said. "We've got tough decisions, really, all the way through the lineup, particularly at that spot. This time of the year, especially on back-to-backs it's a tough decision. It's a positive for our team that we do have to make a tough decision."
Who's hot:Atkinson has six goals and eight points in the past nine games and is tied with Jenner for the Blue Jackets with 25 goals, career highs for each. Columbus is 8-for-8 on the penalty kill vs. the Flyers this season. … Raffl has four goals and six assists in nine games. Schenn has nine goals and 10 assists in 17 games.
