A series of multiple third period comebacks by the Philadelphia Flyers was capped off in overtime with a 5-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center. Owen Tippett led the way with a career-best four-point game (game-winning goal, three assists).
Morgan Frost had two goals for Philly. Noah Cates notched a goal for the third straight game and then created Tippett's game winner. Tyson Foerster scored the game-tying goal late in the third period and also had an earlier assist. Travis Konecny had two assists.
With the win, the Flyers evened up their season record at 15-15-4. In the process, they snapped a three-game losing streak.
In the first period, the Flyers had a 10-9 shot on goal edge (19-14 shot attempt advantage) on the Blue Jackets. However, a Flyers turnover led to Columbus taking a 1-0 lead to intermission. Only seven shots on goal through two periods were by Flyers forwards.
At 2:14, a very long shift in the attack zone ended with a questionable interference penalty on Morgan Frost against Damon Severson. Samuel Ersson made a tough save on a puck that deflected on net off a teammate.
The Flyers went to the power play at 7:26 on a Zach Aston-Reese holding minor. Philly generated no significant pressure and no pucks on net.
Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made an outstanding save on Tippett off a Scott Laughton feed to keep the game scoreless. Less than a minute later, the Blue Jackets struck.
A giveaway by Jamie Drysdale on an attempted breakout led directly to a Columbus goal moments later that gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 15:47. After an initial save by Samuel Ersson, Mathieu Olivier (9th goal of the season) scored from the slot. The lone assist went to Kent Johnson.
The second period saw Columbus extend their lead to two goals. In a fair low-event frame, the Blue Jackets outshot the Flyer by a 7-6 margin. The Flyers struggled to move inside the perimeter.
Joel Farabee created a Flyers power play at 1:55 of the second period as he was hooked by Aston-Reese. The Flyers failed to score. At 5:20, Merzlikins made a very good skate save on Travis Sanheim.
Another turnover -- this time resulting from a missed connection behind the net between Ersson and Drysdale -- became a Mikael Yyhtia goal (3rd) into a vacant net. Nick Seeler and Frost attempted to block the shot. The lone assist went to Sean Kuraly at 7:05.
A potential momentum-generating shift by Noah Cates' line produced back to back icings by Columbus. Later, an apparent goal by Olle Lycksell at 14:11 was challenged by Columbus for an offside on a keep at the blueline. On replay, the goal was overturned.
A delay of game penalty on Kuraly gave the Flyers a power play at 3:29 of the third period. Falling to 0-for-10 over their last five games, the Flyers spent most of the two minutes retrieving Columbus clears. There was one sequence where Drysdale seemed to have Konecny set up down low.
Finally, the Flyers broke through at 6:53. Frost won a left circle faceoff back to the point. Owen Tippett weaved his way in with the puck and made a back door pass to a wide open Frost for a slam dunk (5th) to cut the gap to 2-1. Tippett received the lone assist.
