Defeating the Nashville Predators 3-2 in their last contest, the Philadelphia Flyers were hoping to extend their winning streak to three games against a division rival in the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Carter Hart made his third straight start for the Flyers and opposed Sergei Bobrovsky in-net. Bobrovsky entered the matchup with a 14-10-1 record, a 2.78 Goals-Against Average, and a .908 save percentage.
Both teams were very even in play throughout the first, with each disrupting any sort of offensive pressure that was gained. Radko Gudas dropped the gloves with Brandon Dubinsky, and this seemed to energize the Flyers a bit as they started to create more dangerous of chances.