x

Already member? Login first!

Comments / New

Game #63 Recap: Seth Jones, Blue Jackets Bury Flyers in Overtime, 4-3

Posted on by Ryan Real

For the second time this season, Seth Jones scored an overtime goal to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Philadelphia Flyers. His goal with 32 seconds to go in the extra period gave the CBJ a 4-3 win over Philadelphia at Nationwide Arena on Thursday night, putting the club one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes in the standings.

With time running out before a deciding shootout, Artemi Panarin blew past a Flyers backchecker and found Jones streaking in uncovered for a tap-in past Brian Elliott to win the game.

The goal capped a lengthy, messy, wild night in Nationwide that featured a litigious first period and a game-tying score late in the game from Philadelphia.

Oliver Bjorkstrand, Panarin and Scott Harrington scored for the Blue Jackets while Jakub Voracek and Travis Sanheim (two) scored for the Flyers. Ten different Blue Jackets registered at least one point on the night. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 31 shots (.901 save percentage) and Brian Elliott made 36 saves on 40 shots.

Columbus dominated in the faceoff circle, 59 to 41 percent, and outshot Philadelphia by a 40-31 count. The home side also held an edge in 5v5 CF% (53.7%) and posted nine high-danger scoring chances to Philly’s seven.

First Period

A back-and-forth first period saw as many goals as video reviews, swinging momentum wildly throughout the frame.

The Flyers received the first power play 3:20 into the game thanks to a Nick Foligno tripping call. It took all of 10 seconds for Jake Voracek to score, following his own missed shot and skating in alone to score a quick 1-0 Flyers lead.

Flyers 1, Blue Jackets 0, 16:30 left in the first period

With 11:14 remaining, the Blue Jackets caught a break as Brian Elliott was judged to have pushed his own net off the moorings for a delay of game penalty. The CBJ matched the Flyers and scored on the power play, but they needed all but one second to do it. Oliver Bjorkstrand received a pass on a great effort from Boone Jenner in front to ram it home past Elliott:

Blue Jackets 1, Flyers 1, 9:15 left in the first period

The league office in Toronto looked at this for goaltender interference and ruled in favor of Columbus. Who knows anymore? Gotta play for the other Pennsylvania team, Brian Elliott.

Bjorkstrand appeared to score a second goal soon after, only to fall victim to the cruel mistress of replay this time. Bjorkstrand kicked it off Ivan Provorov, and apparently that’s illegal:

The Blue Jackets couldn’t convert on a Robert Hagg tripping penalty and even needed Bobrovsky to make a big save on Claude Giroux in a shorthanded 2-on-1.

What’s better than a disallowed goal? Try two disallowed goals. This one broke the Blue Jackets’ way, though, as Columbus challenged a nifty James van Riemsdyk between-the-legs goal off the post after Voracek entered the zone offside.

The challenge kept the game tied at 1-1…but not for long. Bob made an initial stop on a Konecny shot but the Flyers kept whacking away at the loose puck, eventually stopping when Travis Sanheim poked it over the line for a 2-1 Flyers lead. The goal came with two minutes to go in the period and Columbus would not even the score before the break.

Flyers 2, Blue Jackets 1, 2:00 minutes left in the first period

Second Period

Seven and a half quiet minutes passed before Artemi Panarin got the Nationwide crowd on its feet. The Breadman finished a solid cycle by losing the Flyers and finding all the time in the world to finish a Zach Werenski pass to tie the game at 2-2.

Blue Jackets 2, Flyers 2, 12:29 left in the second period

A Columbus power play went by the boards when Cam Atkinson had to hook Sean Couturier 31 seconds into the advantage to negate a Philly breakaway. Columbus did keep the Flyers from capitalizing on an abbreviated PP, though, keeping the game deadlocked at 2-2.

Sloppy play characterized much of the second, though the rest of the period saw no further penalties. Each team turned the puck over with reckless abandon the final couple of minutes by throwing wild east-west passes that ended up going the other way. Atkinson also refused to shoot during a particularly frustrating odd-man-rush.

The Panarin-Dubois-Atkinson line made a reappearance amid changes throughout the lineup. Pale Dragon summed it up best: “Torts has been given a sports car and he’s driving 50 mph in the left lane with the emergency brake on.”

Columbus finished the second period with 10 shots to the Flyers’ six.

Third Period

Tortorella took a minor beating on Twitter by pairing Scott Harrington with Seth Jones in the second, but it was Harrington who gave the CBJ their first lead of the game 4:15 into the third. No. 4 fired a seeing-eye shot for No. 2 on the season, beating Elliott to put the home side in front:

Blue Jackets 3, Flyers 2, 15:45 left in the third period

Columbus looked solid through the middle of the period, clogging the neutral zone and holding the Flyers at bay. That came to an end when Travis Sanheim went backdoor to tie the game at 3-3, capitalizing on a faceoff win off of a CBJ icing. It appeared that Nick Foligno lost Sanheim on the goal as well. That one stung.

Blue Jackets 3, Flyers 3, 6:48 left in the third period

The final few minutes stretched on forever as any puck that went within 10 feet of a goalie was scooped up and frozen, leading to overtime.

Overtime

Overtime’s the best, isn’t it? The CBJ created a beautiful chance midway through as Cam Atkinson found Matt Duchene all alone in front, but Duchene’s shot sailed wide. Then Jones sent everyone home happy.

Final Thoughts

  • Scott Harrington got the kepi. Good for him.
  • Oliver Bjorkstrand has scored a goal in three of his last four games. He picked up an assist in the game he didn’t score. He’s starting to round in to the player we suspected he might be before the season.
  • The Blue Jackets are 8-3 in overtime games this season.
  • It’s going to take some time to get the chemistry balanced with the deadline acquisitions. Duchene needs to figure out his role, as does Dzingel. The good news is the CBJ got two points tonight as they looked a mess at times trying to piece everything together./

  • Does Joonas Korpisalo start on Saturday against Edmonton? Or Keith Kinkaid? That’s a 1 p.m. start, don’t forget.
  • Really glad Artemi Panarin’s on this team. His final shift was 1:24 and he played 2:36 of overtime. Jones played 2:59./

Talking Points