In their penultimate game before the leaguewide break, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (14-15-4) are home to host Dean Evason's Columbus Blue Jackets (13-15-5) on Saturday evening in the annual Holiday Spectacular. Game time at Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. EST.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 93.3 WMMR with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
Saturday's game marks the second meeting of the season series between the Flyers and Blue Jackets. On December 10 in Columbus, the Flyers skated to a 5-3 victory. After Saturday's tilt, the teams will rematch on January 15 and April 15.
Following this game, the Flyers will have a lengthy absence from their home arena. The Flyers next game at Wells Fargo Center will be on January 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Here are five things to watch in Saturday's match:
1. Bounceback game for York?
Flyers defenseman Cam York is a fixture on the left side of the Flyers top defense pairing alongside Travis Sanheim. York's season was interrupted when he missed 13 games (October 23 to November 23) due to an upper body injury.
In the month since his return, York's play has been average overall with some recent inconsistency. Some games have been strong, while others have been uncharacteristically error-prone. Throughout the vast majority of last season and the early stages of 2024-25, York had been a consistently reliable performer on both sides of the puck.
Earlier this week, York was benched for the entire third period of Wednesday's game in Detroit. The following night at home against the Los Angeles Kings, York was a healthy scratch.
On Friday, the Flyers loaned rookie defenseman Emil Andrae back to the American Hockey League's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Even had Andrae not been reassigned to the Phantoms, however, it was likely that York would return to play in Saturday's game against the Blue Jackets.
2. Connectedness and structure
When the Flyers pulled out of their early season struggles in October, the process started by reestablishing defensive zone structure that had been absent. From there, the team cleaned up its breakouts and started to move up ice as five-man units. The forecheck snapped into place both in the offensive and neutral zone.
With the Flyers having yielded 17 goals over the last three games, puck support and defensive zone structure -- along with making proper reads -- are once again in need of resets.
There is, of course, also a goaltending component to fixing the issues that have reemerged in recent games. Apart from Aleksei Kolosov's performance at home against Detroit last week, the Flyers' goalie play of late has been spotty whether it's been Samuel Ersson or Kolosov in net.
3. Energy management
Saturday's game is the Flyers' third match in four nights, amid a stretch of four games in six nights leading into the holiday break. The first 39 minutes of Thursday's game against the Kings went well overall. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off in the final minute of the second period and the entire third period.
Friday was an off-day for the team. It's almost a given that the Flyers will come out looking to attack the Blue Jackets right off the bat in the first period. In fact, it would be quite concerning if they started out the game on the defensive given how the previous two games turned out.
Thereafter, as Saturday's game progresses, the Flyers can ill-afford to have a "sleepy" period or a third period swoon. Last Saturday's loss in Minnesota was a decently played performance that came down to the Wild getting and converting a couple of golden scoring chances on the counterattack after near-miss chances by the Flyers at the other end. Since then, however, the Flyers have struggled consistently against Detroit and Los Angeles.
"Sixty minute performance" is a hockey cliche. It's the rare night that one side is in control for the entirety of all three periods. Nevertheless, the Flyers can ill-afford to have dramatic or prolonged dips in their energy and execution against any opponent including Columbus.
4. Flyers leaders must lead
Saturday's game is one where the Flyers' leadership core -- Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Sanheim, and Scott Laughton -- may need to be the tone setters who step up to set the example for the rest of the team to follow.
From an offensive standpoint, Konecny is still the most consistent catalyst for his team. Lately though, goals have not been the main problem for the Flyers. They're scoring. The wider problem of late has been taking care of the puck.
5. Behind enemy lines: Werenski
Speaking of catalysts for their team, Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski is the biggest play-driver for Columbus. It's a given that he will log massive ice time (26:24 average) and be on the ice in every manpower situation.
With 11 goals to date, Werenski is tied for the Blue Jackets' team lead. His 21 assists and 32 points are one behind winger Kirill Marchenko for tops on the Columbus leaderboard.
