Provorov’s Return: Flyers Game 18 vs Blue Jackets: Lines, Notes, How to Watch

For the first time since being traded, Ivan Provorov and the Columbus Blue Jackets (4-10-4) return to the Wells Fargo Center to face the Philadelphia Flyers (9-7-1) at 5:30 p.m. EST.

With a win Sunday, the Flyers can vault themselves into sole possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division, though the Washington Capitals have two games in hand and the Carolina Hurricanes have one more point in the same number of games played. Regardless, Philadelphia has exceeded their expectations almost beyond measure up to this point, and now have the opportunity to further that against Columbus.

The Flyers are 6-3-1 in their last 10 against the Blue Jackets, and have lost once to them in regulation since April 5, 2022. Philadelphia is a winner of three straight against Columbus, scoring four or more goals in each of those three.

Since Carter Hart started Saturday, Sam Ersson will take the reigns in the crease Sunday, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Flyers Preview

The Flyers have extended their season-long win streak to four games now, and have defeated three Stanley Cup contenders in the process. Over their last seven games, Philadelphia is 5-2-0.

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are 1-9-3 over their last 13. They’ve had four wins or fewer this far into a season only twice in their history: 4-10-4 in 2001-02, and 3-13-2 in 2011-12.

As we learned with the loss to the San Jose Sharks game, there is no such thing as an easy game in the NHL. Head coach John Tortorella has coached the Philadelphia Flyers extremely well to this point. One point of emphasis has been learning how to win, and then balancing the rush of that success with the requisite effort and mentality to extrapolate it.

“I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves when you win a few games in a row,” Tortorella explained. “Because that’s when you go down the wrong road”.

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Expected Flyers Lines

Tyson Foerster – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny

Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Cam Atkinson

Joel Farabee – Ryan Poehling – Scott Laughton

Nicolas Deslauriers – Noah Cates – Garnet Hathaway

Defense

Cam York – Travis Sanheim

Nick Seeler – Sean Walker

Egor Zamula – Louie Belpedio

Goaltending

Sam Ersson

Carter Hart

Expected Blue Jackets Lines

Johnny Gaudreau – Patrik Laine – Mathieu Olivier

Dmitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko

Cole Sillinger – Boone Jenner – Yegor Chinakhov

Alexandre Texier – Sean Kuraly – Justin Danforth

Defense

Zach Werenski – Erik Gudbranson

Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson

Jake Bean – David Jiricek

Goaltending

Spencer Martin

Elvis Merzlikins

Flyers Special Teams

Flyers power play: 10.5%, 29th

Flyers penalty kill: 80%, 14th

Blue Jackets power play: 10.7%, 28th

Blue Jackets penalty kill: 88.2%, 4th

Flyers Game Notes

On Saturday, Sean Couturier became the seventh player in Philadelphia Flyers history with at least five career overtime goals. The other six are Claude Giroux (11), Jakub Voracek (9), Shayne Gostisbehere (6), Simon Gagne (6), Eric Lindros (5), and John LeClair (5).

The Flyers are 9-2-0 when leading after the first period, and lead the NHL in wins within this context.

Nick Seeler has recorded an assist in each of his last three games, giving him a career-high three-game assist streak. His three-game point streak ties his career-long, which he has only achieved once before.

Owen Tippett is on career-high four-game goal streak, and has recorded two points in three of his last four games.

How to Watch the Flyers Game

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia

Radio: 93.3 WMMR

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