5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Blue Jackets

In their final home game of the 2022 calendar year, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (10-15-7) will host Brad Larsen's Columbus Blue Jackets (10-18-2) on Tuesday evening. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.

This is the third of four meetings this season between the teams and first of two in Philadelphia Flyers. The season series will conclude on April 11. Back on Nov. 10 in Columbus, the Blue Jackets downed the Flyers by a 5-2 score. The next week, on Nov. 15, the Flyers trailed 4-2 in the third period, pushed back to tie the game but eventually lost in overtime, 5-4.
Here are five things to watch in Tuesday's game:
1. Hayes and MacEwen return.
In Saturday's game against the Rangers,one game after being benched for the duration of the third period in the Flyers' upset win over the New Jersey Devils, Kevin Hayes was a healthy scratch against his former team. Even with Zack MacEwen missing the game against the Rangers due to illness, Hayes remained out of the lineup. The Flyers dressed seven defensemen and 11 forwards.
Hayes did not feel that Tortorella's decision to take him out of the lineup was justified.
"I'm never going to say there's a benefit to being benched, I'm sorry. I don't think I should have been benched, but it's not my decision. He's the coach, I'm a player. He makes the lineup, he wants the best team on the ice to ultimately win. That's what he went with that night," Hayes said after Monday's practice at the Flyers Training Center.
"You can be benched and everyone writes about being better defensively. I try every night to be the best player I can be. Some nights it goes well for me and some nights it doesn't. I try to be consistent. He felt like I was doing worse for the team than better so he decided not to play me."
Olle Lyckell and Kieffer Bellows dressed for Saturday's game. Both players were subsequently assigned to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Look for Hayes and MacEwen to return against the Blue Jackets.
2. Can the JVR-Frost-Tippett line continue their momentum?
In Saturday's game against New York, the trio of James van Riemsdyk (1g, five shots on net in six attempts, 21:37 TOI, 60.6 percent Corsi), Morgan Frost (1g, three shots on net in six attempts, 7-for-12 on faceoffs, 19:50 TOI, 62.1 percent Corsi) and Owen Tippett (1a, three shots on net in six attempts, 18:48 TOI, 56.4 percent Corsi) accounted for two of Philadelphia's three goals as well as 11 of the team's 32 shots on the New York net.
In the first period of that game, JVR used his long reach to score on a turnaround shot near the right post to stuff the puck into the far side of the net. Later, in the third period, Frost used a defenseman as a screen to score on a seed of a shot to the glove side. Late in the third period, Frost created a power play for the Flyers, who pulled goalie Carter Hart for an ill-fated 6-on-4 attack with a chance to tie the game. The Rangers scored a long-distance empty-net shorthanded goal and then a second empty-netter for a final 6-3 margin of victory over the Flyers.
Although Tortorella has a penchant for line juggling, look for the JVR-Frost-Tippett line to make its fifth straight start as a three-man unit. Frost and van Riemsdyk were also linemates in the Dec.9 game against the Coyotes, but MacEwen was the third member of the line in that game. Tortorella said after the Rangers game that he'd considered breaking up the JVR-Frost-Tippett line mid-game but resisted the idea and was ultimately glad he hadn't tinkered.
"I'm wondering, 'Do I move the lines?'" Tortorella said. "But I think James being with those guys there, him and Tip and Frosty, it's been a good line. And I fought myself not to change things."
3. Will the Cates line stay together?
In the absence of Hayes from the lineup on Saturday, the Flyers moved the recently struggling Joel Farabee up to the team's top line with Noah Cates and Travis Konecny. The line did not score against the Rangers but contributed many positive shifts at 5-on-5. It will be interesting to see if the line starts together against Columbus to see if they can build from their performance on Saturday.
Against the Rangers, Farabee had four shots on goal in eight attempts, two takeaways, 20:04 TOI and a 55.9 percent Corsi rate at 5-on-5. Cates posted three shots on goal in five attempts, six credited hits,and 17:07 TOI. Konecny had three shots on goal in six attempts, 26:11 TOI, and 51.43 percent on-ice Corsi. If Farabee-Cates-TK stays together, Hayes and/or MacEwen could start Tuesday's game on Scott Laughton's line. Laughton's shorthanded breakaway goal in Saturday's game against the Rangers narrowed a 3-1 gap in the second period to one goal.
4. Flyers injury updates and line play.
The Flyers announced some bad news on Sunday: Veteran winger and locker room leadership figure Cam Atlkinson will miss the entire 2022-23 season. Atkinson, who went down on the third day of training camp and has not played at all this season although he participated in a few practices, will undergo neck surgery on Wednesday. He has gone on Injured Reserve and will remain there for the rest of the season.

The Flyers had an optional morning skate on Tuesday at the FTC in Voorhees. Wade Allison may be ready to exit IR and return for this game. A potential starting lineup, subject to change, could be as follows:
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates -11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown -17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Travis Sanheim - 45 Cam York
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets have gone 3-6-1 over their last 10 games. While the Flyers are embarking on a stretch of three games in four nights, the Blue Jackets are completing such a gauntlet. On Saturday, Columbus lost a 4-2 road decision to the Boston Bruins. Returning home, the Blue Jackets lost to the Dallas Stars last night by a 2-1 score. Kent Johnson broke up Jake Oettinger's shutout bid with 15 seconds left in regulation, but it was too little and too late to alter the outcome.
The addition of Johnny Gaudreau in the offseason has been a bright spot for the Blue Jacket amid what has been a rough, injury-riddled season for the Blue Jackets. In 31 games played, Gaudreau has compiled a team-leading 33 points (10 goals, 23 assists).
Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets can relate to the Flyers' extensive injury list this season because they have been equally decimated. The team has already lost No. 1 defenseman Zach Werenski for the season (an injury that occurred in the Nov. 10 game against the Flyers) along with veteran winger Jakub Voracek (post-concussion issues). Defenseman Jake Bean incurred a shoulder injury in the Nov. 15 game against the Flyers and expected to miss 4-to-6 much after the surgery he underwent on Nov. 23.
Additionally, key forward Boone Jenner broke his thumb in Saturday's game in Boston and will require surgery. He will be out for at least four weeks. For the season, Jenner is second on the Blue Jackets in scoring with 11 goals and 22 points. Jenner had two-goal games against the Flyers on Nov. 10 and Nov. 15.
Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo has been out for the last week with a lower-body injury and has been placed on IR. Adam Boqvist and Justin Danforth are also on Injured Reserve. Nineteen-year-old forward Cole Sillinger is day-to-day.
Patrik Laine played in the Nov. 10 game against the Flyers but not the Nov. 15 rematch in Columbus. For the season, the Finnish sniper has posted nine goals and 15 points in 18 games. Laine had a goal and an assist in Saturday's game against the Bruins and has two goals and five points over his last five games.
Projected lineup (subject to change)
13 Johnny Gaudreau - 91 Kent Johnson - 29 Patrik Laine
14 Gustav Nyquist - 96 Jack Roslovic -86 Kirill Marchenko
50 Eric Robinson - 7 Sean Kuraly - 59 Yegor Chinakhov
72 Carson Meyer - 21 Josh Dunne - 24 Mathieu Olivir
44 Erik Gudbranson - 75 Tim Berni
47 Marcus Björk - 4 Vladislav Gavrikov
2 Andrew Peeke - 23 Jake Christiansen
90 Elvis Merzlikins
40 Daniil Tarasov