Postgame 5: Flyers sweep weekend with 5-2 win over Columbus

The Philadelphia Flyers earned their fifth straight win as they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-2, at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday evening. The score was tied at 1-1 after the first period.

At 5:11 of the first period, the Flyers opened the scoring to take a 1-0 lead. A Ryan Poehling pass squibbed to Farabee (7th goal of the season). Farabee moved in and shot a backhander into the net from the slot. The secondary assist went to Cam York.

Columbus knotted the score at 15:02 of the opening period. From the left circle Alexandre Tessier (4th goal) fired a shot between Sean Walker's skates and the puck found the net. The assists went to Sean Walker and Mathieu Olivier.

The Flyers re-took the lead with a power play goal at 1:11 of the second period. Scott Laughton won the faceoff. After receiving a pass from Walker, Brink moved off the left half boards toward the dot and rifled off a wrist shot (PPG, 4th) that beat goalie Spencer Martin. The assists went to Sean Walker and Farabee.

Philly made it 3-0 on a shorthanded 2-on-0 breakaway for Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway. From near the right post, after taking a give-and-go return pass from Hathaway, Poehling shot the puck just over the goal line before Martin brought it back with his pad (SHG, 2nd). The assists went to Hathaway and Walker.

The Blue Jackets sliced the gap to 3-2 at 17:57. Johnny Gaudreau created a chance -- and a scramble -- around the Flyers net after the puck went off Travis Sanheim and the post. Booner Jenner sent the puck to ex-Flyer Ivan Provorov. From the left circle, Provorov's shot made it through the bodies around the blue paint and found the net. Initially credited to Provorov, Jenner was given the goal (his 8^th of the season). Provorov got the lone assist.

Philly restored  a two-goal lead at 12:40 on a sniper's goal by Travis Konecny (11th of the season) from the bottom of the right circle. Louie Belpedio drew the lone assist.

With Martin pulled for an extra attacker (5-on-4), the Flyers' Cam York (2nd) scored a long-distance empty net goal. Poehling was credited with an assist at 17:34.

Samuel Ersson did not see a lot of shots in terms of quantity but had to come up with several tough -- and vital -- saves. Overall, he stopped 20 of 22 shots. In a losing cause, Martin stopped 21 of 25 shots. 

The Flyers went 1-for-4 on the power play. Columbus went 0-for-5 and gave up the Poehling shorthanded tally along the way.

Brink returned to the Flyers lineup after being scratched in each of the three previous games. Morgan Frost was scratched. For Columbus, Patrik Laine was a healthy scratch after being benched in the third period two games ago.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 21 Scott Laughton - 89 Cam Atkinson
86 Joel Farabee - 25 Ryan Poehling - 10 Bobby Brink
44 Nick Deslauriers - 27 Noah Cates - 19 Garnet Hathaway

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
5 Egor Zamula - 37 Louie Belpedio

33 Samuel Ersson
[79 Carter Hart]

TURNING POINT

Scoring a power play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same game put the Flyers in the driver's seat and factored heavily in the final outcome. Later, Konecny's insurance goal that put the Flyers ahead, 4-2, was as perfect of a shot you'll see.

POSTGAME 5

1) The Flyers started the game with lengthy puck possession and the game's first shot on goal. Philly went on to generate five of the first six shots including the first goal.

With shots 7-3 in the Flyers' favor, Konecny was slashed on the hand by Yegor Chinakhov at 10:20. The Flyers went on the game's first power play. A flubbed pass almost worked out in the Flyers' favor as it went directly to Tippett for a scoring chance from the right slot. 

At 13:51, Ersson went post-to-post as Boone Jenner drew iron off a cross-ice pass to him at the doorstep. Moments later, Ersson made back-to-back saves on Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau. However, at 15:02, Texier tied the game at 1-1.

At 16:48, Ersson made a tough stop to deny a 2-on-1  chance from Kuraly. Deslauriers dropped the gloves with Olivier at 16:59 and the two had a marathon of a spirited fight; patting each other on their helmets as they finally tired out and separated.

2) First period shots on goal were 11-9 Flyers. Shot attempts were 20-16 Flyers. Scoring chances were 9-9 with an even 3-3 split in high danger chances. Faceoffs were 11-10 Flyers, led by Poehling winning three of four. The Flyers were credited with five takeaways from Columbus players.

3) The Flyers went to their second power play at 1:05 of the second period, as Kirill Marchenko was called for an offensive zone trip of Sanheim. Laughton won the ensuing faceoff, starting the eventual Brink power play goal sequence six seconds later.

Philly was caught with too many men on the ice at 5:08.  Poehling's shorthanded tally provided a two-goal lead.

Adam Fantilli beat Ersson over the glove but hit the post on the far side as the score remained 3-1. Second period shots on goal were tied at 5-5.

At 11:04 of the second period, Hathaway and Olivier mixed it up near the benches. Deslauriers came over to stand up for Hathaway as Olivier received a roughing double minor and the Flyers' winger got two minutes. The Flyers were unable to score on the man advantage. Columbus iced the puck right after the penalty expired.

On back-to-back shifts, the Couturier and Poehling line created a flurry of chances. Through 17 minutes, second period shots on goal were 10-6 Flyers. However, the Blue Jackets' Jenner scored at 17:57 to cut the Blue Jackets' deficit from two goals to one.

4) Second period shots on goal were 11-7 Flyers (22-16 Flyers through 40 minutes). Shot attempts were 23-15 Flyers (44-32 Flyers overall). Scoring chances were 12-5 Flyers (21-14 Flyers overall) with a 3-1 high-danger edge (6-4 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 11-9 Blue Jackets (22-19 Blue Jackets overall).

5)  Ersson fought off the second shot (Kuraly from 40 feet) he saw in the third period.

At 4:01, after Walker turned the puck over to Fantilli and the Flyers defenseman took a slashing penalty to lessen the scoring chance. Ersson made the save for the stoppage.

With play back at 5-on-5, Fantilli had a mid-center slot attempt on net. Ersson made the save. 

The Flyers had their first shot on goal on a Tippett breakaway at 11:44 in the third period. Their second, by Konecny, was a goal at 12:40. Justin Danforth had a breakaway of his own shortly thereafter but Ersson stopped him.

Brink took a slashing penalty at 13:52. The Flyers killed it off with authority.

Philly had a short-lived power play at 16:27 as Cole Sillinger was sent off for hooking. Twenty-six seconds later, at 16:53, Sanheim was called for holding the stick. Teams skated 4-on-4 for a minute and 34 seconds before a short Columbus power play.   

At a TV timeout with 2:33 on the clock, third period shots on goal were 4-3 Columbus. They ended up 5-4 Columbus.