FLYERS (30-26-7) at BLUE JACKETS (35-24-3) 7 p.m. ET; FS-O, NBCSP, NHL.TV
The Blue Jackets trail the idle Pittsburgh Penguins by one point for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference. The idle Montreal Canadiens are two points ahead of Columbus, which is 2-3-0 in its past five games after going 5-1-0 in its previous six. The Flyers are 14-3-1 since Jan. 14, but seven points behind the Penguins.
Players to watch
Flyers center Sean Couturier has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his past seven games. Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson has four points (three goals, one assist) in a three-game point streak.
They said it
"Our playoffs started probably a couple of weeks ago and they're continuing tonight with a big game. You'll see our best performance for sure." -- Flyers forward Phil Varone "We have to be a lot more consistent in our game, especially when the points matter that much within in our division." -- Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones
Varone replaces MacDonald after the Flyers used seven defenseman and 11 forwards against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. … Wennberg will be a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game.
Stat pack
The Flyers are 0-2-1 against the Blue Jackets this season. … McQuaid is expected to play his second game with Columbus and 500th in the NHL. … Bobrovsky is 13-3-1 with a 2.10 goals-against average and .928 save percentage against Philadelphia, where he played 83 games from 2010-12.
