BLUE JACKETS NOTES From Nationwide Arena

Coming up: The Blue Jackets play the St. Louis Blues, the NHL's fourth-best team, twice in the next six days: Friday in Columbus and Tuesday in St. Louis. The Blue Jackets, who are 14th in the Western Conference, also will play the Penguins Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Mellon Arena. The Pens are last in the league.
Nash nursing injury: Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets' 19-year-old left winger who is tied with Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk with 18 goals, played despite being bothered with a pulled groin he suffered during Monday's practice. He took three shots, including one in overtime.
Playing the best: With 42 points, the Flyers have the best record in the NHL. Their lineup is loaded with All-Stars, including Jeremy Roenick, Mark Recchi, John LeClair, Tony Amonte, Simon Gagne, Keith Primeau and Eric Desjardins. "When you play a team like Philadelphia and you play as well as we did, there are some bright spots," Blue Jackets goalie Fred Brathwaite said. "But it's still obviously disappointing not getting the two points. We needed those points to start climbing up the ladder. We have a tough schedule coming up [so] we need these points as quickly as possible. [If things continue to progress] the way they're going, we're going to get farther back and everyone is going to keep moving up."
Overtime: Alternate captain Tyler Wright credited Todd Marchant and Andrew Cassels for keeping the Flyers at bay in the extra session. "Marchant and Cassels did a great job and the [defense] made sure their shots came from the perimeter. They did have a couple of point-blank shots, but Freddie was right there for us."
Why the Flyers succeed: Blue Jackets defenseman Todd LaChance said Philadelphia excels at limiting shots." Systematically, they are good at shutting down the middle so a lot of our opportunities came from outside shots or scrums around the net. Defensively, they are really sound at clogging up the neutral zone and the middle."
He's back: Because of injuries to defensemen, the Blue Jackets signed Jamie Pushor on Tuesday. The 30-year-old defender is the first player to return to the four-year-old franchise. Pushor was a Pittsburgh Penguin last season and tried out for the Toronto Maple Leafs during training camp. Since Nov. 18, he's been playing with Syracuse of the American Hockey League.
Parma native is going to Finland: Columbus center Dan Fritsche, a native a Parma, has been selected to play for Team USA in the World Junior Championships that begin Jan. 5 in Finland. The 18-year-old has played in 19 games, scoring one goal. He was the 46th player taken in last year's amateur draft.
-- Tom Williams