Blue Jackets 4, Flyers 3 (OT): Columbus survives a blown three-goal lead
Kent Johnson scored twice, including the overtime winner at 2:22, after Philadelphia erased a 3-0 first-period deficit with 11 seconds left in regulation.
Kent Johnson scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Tuesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Columbus had led 3-0 in the first period before Philadelphia forced overtime with 11 seconds left in regulation.
A first period Philadelphia would like back
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Flyers managed two shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes, a season low, while Columbus scored on all three of its shots. Adam Fantilli opened the scoring at 10:58, with Johnson setting him up on a breakout. Johnson made it 2-0 less than two minutes later, and Denton Mateychuk added a third roughly 50 seconds after that, per the Inquirer. NHL.com puts the three goals within a 2:46 span.
The Inquirer reports that the final two periods were very different: Columbus goalie Cam Talbot faced 28 Flyers shots over the second and third, while Columbus managed six of its own.
The comeback
Noah Cates scored his first goal of the season in the second period to make it 3-1, crashing the net for a rebound. Trevor Zegras cut the deficit to one in the third. The equaliser came with Vladar on the bench for an extra attacker: Tyson Foerster's pass deflected off Jamie Drysdale's skate and in with 11 seconds left, tying the game 3-3. (One Inquirer subtitle and its social tags credit Christian Dvorak with that goal; the article body and NHL.com credit Drysdale, and this recap follows them.)
Overtime was short. Both outlets say Johnson finished a 2-on-0 rush with Fantilli at 2:22 for the win. The Inquirer notes Vladar had stopped Zach Werenski on another 2-on-0 chance earlier in the extra period.
What it means
Columbus improved to 5-5-0, according to NHL.com. Philadelphia dropped to 3-7-4 and have now lost two in a row, per the Inquirer. Zegras extended his point streak to five games with two points on the night.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, as paraphrased by the Inquirer, was frustrated with the team's repeated "learning lesson" talk and called allowing two 2-on-0 chances in overtime unacceptable. Cates and Zegras both said the coaches' message after a poor first period was blunt, and defenseman Cam York said the team was flat early before dominating the middle and late stages.