Flyers, Blue Jackets meet with win streaks on the line

The Philadelphia Flyers will be searching for their third consecutive victory when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

After dropping four in a row, the Flyers responded with a 6-2 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights and an impressive 4-1 win on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

In the three-goal win at Chicago, Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk each recorded their first goal of the season.

Through the drought for two of the Flyers' most prolific scorers, the team wasn't panicking.

"For everyone on our group, it was just a matter of time," Philadelphia head coach Alain Vigneault said. "If you stick with the process, do the right thing, sooner or later you're going to get rewarded."

It was the Flyers' first victory in four road games, though they technically defeated the Blackhawks in a "home" game in the season opener in Prague. Goaltender Brian Elliott was sharp with 23 saves, yet it's unclear if Elliott or second-year goaltender Carter Hart will start against the Blue Jackets as the Flyers return home.

"It's nice it all came together on the road," said Kevin Hayes, who scored a goal against Chicago. "We've been playing good hockey. Even in some of the games we lost, we outplayed the other team."

Giroux's play had been steady even without scoring. That's part of being the team captain.

"You want to try to help the team win," Giroux said. "Sometimes when it's not going in, you've got to do the little things right. Tonight I thought we played a really good game, especially in the second period."

Left winger Michael Raffl left the game late in the third period after being hit in the leg with a shot. There was no immediate update on his condition for Saturday's game.

Like the Flyers, Columbus is also looking for its third straight victory.

The Blue Jackets have done a great job with quick starts, as evidenced by their 5-0-0 record this season when scoring the first goal.

Columbus, which is 4-0-2 in its last six games, has played into overtime in four straight. On Thursday, the Blue Jackets ousted the Carolina Hurricanes when Cam Atkinson scored the game-winner 3:28 into overtime.

"We're in every game," Atkinson said. "We're getting points every game. Whether we get one or two, these points are crucial come April time. We've been playing the right way since the beginning of the season. And we're getting goals by committee, which we're going to need this year, and everyone is contributing."

The Blue Jackets have played eight consecutive one-goal games during this difficult 10-game stretch to open the season. There's obviously a long way to go in the regular season, but their resilience has been proven thus far.

"It's 10 games -- I don't know who the hell we are," Columbus coach John Tortorella said. "I like this team. I like the enthusiasm they bring. They've got to keep working at it so it becomes who we are, it becomes second nature."

If there has been a weakness, look to the penalty kill. Columbus has struggled in this area, yet has scored enough goals to mask the problem.

"We have left seams open that don't need to be open," Tortorella said. "It'll get rectified."

--Field Level Media