Flyers Rally Back Twice, Fall to Columbus in OT

It’s become a familiar storyline by now. The Flyers faced another deficit early in the second period by multiple goals, only to erase it. Early in the third, they were back down by two goals in short order, and again found a way to rally back.

The comeback was not completed though, as the Columbus Blue Jackets scored on a 3-on-1 in overtime to hand the Flyers a 5-4 overtime loss on Tuesday night.

For the first few minutes of the game, the two teams were even in shots. Columbus started to push the play and generate quality scoring chances as the period neared the midway point.

At 12:36, Columbus took advantage of a bad line change and got on the board first. After entering the zone, the puck made its way to Sean Kuraly. He attempted a pass to the front of the net that was deflected in on goal by Justin Braun and bounced past Carter Hart to make it 1-0.

The Flyers struggled late in the period and generated just two shots in the final 10 minutes. Through 20 minutes, shots were 9-7 Columbus.

The Flyers came out with plenty of energy to start the second and turned that into an early power play. A penalty on Owen Tippett created an abbreviated power play for Columbus, and the Blue Jackets were able to cash in. The Flyers got scattered in the defensive zone and Johnny Gaudreau was able to feed Boone Jenner at the front of the net for the tip-in to make it a 2-0 game at 5:36.

The Flyers responded just over three minutes later. Scott Laughton won a battle behind the net and was able to get the puck to Travis Konecny. Konecny fed Kevin Hayes in the slot for the goal to get the Flyers on the board at 8:54.

Just over three minutes later, the Flyers tied the game off a rush from a defensive zone face-off. Jake Christensen fell down and allowed open space for Zack MacEwen and Noah Cates to emerge on a two-on-one. Tippett got the puck ahead to MacEwen, who froze Elvis Merzlikins and fed Cates for the goal to make it 2-2 at 12:16.

Merzlikins left the game with an injury following the tying goal, finishing with 15 saves on 17 shots.

Through two periods, the Flyers had a 23-17 lead in shots.

Early in the third, the Blue Jackets retook the lead with two goals separated by 13 seconds. First, at 3:22, Jenner scored his second of the night on a breakaway after blocking a shot at the Columbus blue line. Eric Robinson added the fourth goal of the night for Columbus, finishing on a turnaround shot from in front of the crease.

The Flyers rallied back again, getting the margin back to within one just over a minute later. With Columbus scrambling, a point shot by Nick Seeler got through Joonas Korpisalo to cut the lead to one at 4:58.

At 9:14, with the Flyers on the power play, they got the game tied as Konecny was able to put home a rebound chance to even things up at four with his seventh goal of the season.

Both teams got clutch saves for the remainder of regulation, sending the game to overtime.

The Flyers had control for most of overtime, but a costly turnover led to the game-winning goal for Columbus. Hayes forced a pass into traffic and it was broken up, turning into a 3-on-1 for the Blue Jackets. Quick passing by Cole Sillinger and Yegor Chinakhov helped set up Vladislav Gavrikov for the winning goal at 2:38, securing the Flyers fourth straight loss.

Hart finished with 28 saves on 33 shots in the loss. Korpisalo earned the win in relief with 18 saves on 20 shots.

Konecny, Hayes, and Cates each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers. Jenner, Robinson, and Gavrikov each had multi-point games for Columbus.

The Flyers continue their road trip on Thursday night when they take on the Boston Bruins at 7 p.m.

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Scoring Summary

1st Period

• CBJ Sean Kuraly (3) (Vladislav Gavrikov, Eric Robinson) 12:36

2nd Period

• CBJ Boone Jenner (5) PP (Johnny Gaudreau, Kent Johnson) 5:36
• PHI Kevin Hayes (4) (Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton) 8:54
• PHI Noah Cates (3) (Zack MacEwen, Owen Tippett) 12:16

3rd Period

• CBJ Jenner (6) (Unassisted) 3:22
• CBJ Robinson (2) (Mathieu Olivier, Marcus Bjork) 3:35
• PHI Nick Seeler (2) (Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee) 4:58
• PHI Konecny (7) PP (Cates, Hayes) 9:14

Overtime

• CBJ Gavrikov (2) (Yegor Chinakhov, Cole Sillinger) 2:38