Zach attack
Zach Werenski has had a good January for the Columbus Blue Jackets with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 12 games after the defenseman missed four games in late December because of a lower-body injury. The Blue Jackets (24-20-7) host the Philadelphia Flyers (24-18-9) at Nationwide Arena (7:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT). Werenski will play for the United States at Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. His 55 points (19 goals, 36 assists) are second among NHL defensemen behind Cale Makar of the Avalanche and Evan Bouchard of the Oilers (56 each).
You again?
Carson Soucy didn’t have to wait long to see some familiar faces. He’ll play for the New York Islanders at home against the New York Rangers at UBS Arena (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, MSG 2), two days after the Islanders (28-19-5) acquired the defenseman in a trade with the Rangers (22-25-6) for a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Soucy fills an immediate need for the Islanders, who are without defensemen Ryan Pulock and Alexander Romanov. Pulock has missed two games because of an upper-body injury. Romanov has not played since Nov. 18 because of a shoulder injury that required surgery; at the time of the surgery, he was expected to be out 5-6 months. The Islanders on Tuesday then acquired forward Ondrej Palat from the New Jersey Devils with a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft for Maxim Tsyplakov. Palat also is expected to make his Islanders debut Wednesday.
Hanging in there
The Flyers are 2-6-2 in their past 10 games and outside the Stanley Cup Playoff bubble after a 4-0 loss to the Islanders in Philadelphia on Monday, when coach Rick Tocchet said he was disappointed in their performance against a Metropolitan Division rival. The Blue Jackets are in the same division, so the Flyers want to get their energy back for this one. They should get a boost from the return of goalie Dan Vladar, who will start after missing six games because of a lower-body injury.
