Kent Johnson scored twice, including the overtime winner 2:22 into the extra period, as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Tuesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Johnson finished with three points in Columbus’s comeback from a blown three-goal lead.
Columbus built a 3-0 lead in the first period before Philadelphia scored three straight goals across the final two periods to force overtime. Flyers forward Trevor Zegras led all scorers with two points on a goal and an assist, but Philadelphia could not hold the game past regulation. The Blue Jackets improved to 5-5-0 while the Flyers fell to 3-7-4.
Takeaways From Blue Jackets’ Win Over Flyers
Columbus controlled the first period
The Blue Jackets scored three times in the opening frame, getting goals from Adam Fantilli, Johnson and Denton Mateychuk in a span of less than three minutes. Fantilli opened the scoring on a wrist shot at 10:58, assisted by Johnson and Jake Christiansen. Johnson deflected in a Zach Werenski feed less than two minutes later, and Mateychuk added a snap shot goal at 13:44 off assists from Mathieu Olivier and Matthew Knies.
Philadelphia erased the deficit with a third-period surge
The Flyers got on the board when Noah Cates poked home a goal at 9:59 of the second period, assisted by Porter Martone and Oliver Bonk. Philadelphia then scored twice in the final five minutes of regulation. Zegras beat Cam Talbot with a wrist shot at 15:04 of the third, and Jamie Drysdale deflected in a shot with 11 seconds left to tie it 3-3 and send the game to overtime.
Shot totals favored Philadelphia, but Columbus made the saves it needed
The Flyers outshot the Blue Jackets 31-15 for the game, but Columbus won the hits battle 18-15. Columbus leaned on shot-blocking, finishing with 19 blocked shots to Philadelphia’s 12, and Talbot stopped 28 of 31 shots faced for a .903 save percentage.
Player Of The Game: Kent Johnson
Johnson finished with two goals and an assist for three points, the game-high total. His deflection goal in the first period put Columbus up 2-0, and his snap shot 2:22 into overtime, assisted by Fantilli and Werenski, won it. Johnson also picked up an assist on Fantilli’s opening goal.
Blue Jackets Vs. Flyers By The Numbers
Columbus won the faceoff battle decisively, taking 28 draws to Philadelphia’s 22 for a 56% win rate compared to the Flyers’ 44%. The Blue Jackets also out-took the Flyers on takeaways, five to one, while giving the puck away 13 times to Philadelphia’s 15. Neither team scored on the power play, with Columbus going 0-for-1 and Philadelphia 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
Talbot made 28 saves on 31 shots for Columbus, while Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar stopped 11 of 15 shots faced, a .733 save percentage. Zach Werenski logged a team-high 28:09 in ice time and picked up two assists.
What’s Next
Columbus leads the season series with Philadelphia 1-0. The Blue Jackets sit at 10 points in the Metropolitan Division standings, while the Flyers remain at 10 points with four overtime losses among their 14 games.
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