Mrazek makes 19 saves to win Flyers debut against Blue Jackets

PHILADELPHIA -- Petr Mrazek made 19 saves in his first game with the Philadelphia Flyers, a 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.
The Flyers acquired Mrazek in a trade from the Detroit Red Wings on Monday with goalies Brian Elliott (core muscle surgery) and Michal Neuvirth (lower-body injury) out.

"It was awesome, a great win for us," Mrazek said. "Huge two points against a division team. The third period, we played well. We deserved the win in the third period."
WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Flyers highlights]
Nolan Patrick scored the game-winner, Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, and Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists for the Flyers, who have won four games in a row and are 8-0-2 in their past 10.
Philadelphia (32-19-10, 74 points) is tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for second place in the Metropolitan Division and one point behind the Washington Capitals for first.

Mrazek said he was nervous all day waiting for the game to start.
"I was really excited for tonight's game," he said. "The day was so long for me, felt like we were playing at midnight, not 7. I was waiting for it. Happy it's over and we got the two points."
Artemi Panarin scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for the Blue Jackets, who are 1-3-1 in their past five games.
Columbus (30-26-5, 67 points) is tied with the New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"I'm not going to pick apart the team because we didn't get 50 shots tonight," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "This is the way the games are, they're going to get tighter and tighter. First period, we don't get any momentum, we take two penalties. And I did think we struggled just making simple plays. But I think our guys gathered themselves and played two good periods."
Patrick's power-play goal at 9:49 of the third period put the Flyers ahead 2-1. Giroux drew a tripping penalty against Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky and then won the ensuing face-off against Cam Atkinson on the left side of the Columbus zone. Giroux got the puck from Sean Couturier and set up Gostisbehere for a one-timer that Bobrovsky stopped, but Patrick poked in the rebound to extend his goal streak to three games.
"The last 15-20 games I've been feeling myself, feeling confident, trying to contribute as much as I can on both sides of the puck," said Patrick, who has scored a goal in three straight games, five in his past 12.
Panarin gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 12:51 of the second period when he kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush and beat Mrazek. It was Panarin's 200th NHL point.

The Flyers tied the game 1-1 on Giroux's goal at 2:34 of the third period. Couturier's pass off the wall on the right side of the Blue Jackets zone went off Panarin's stick to Giroux, and his shot from the hash marks went past Bobrovsky's glove.
Mrazek wasn't tested much early. The Blue Jackets had two shots on goal in the first period, but the first went off his mask, and then he made a lunging glove save against Zach Werenski 22 seconds into the second period.
"I thought he was outstanding," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "Not a lot of work in the first period but couple opportunities in a little bit of traffic around him. When they had pushes, probably a good half-dozen excellent saves at real key times for us. Pretty good night for him."

Goal of the game

Patrick's goal at 9:49 of the third period.

Save of the game

Mrazek stopping Werenski 22 seconds into the second period.

Highlight of the game

Giroux's goal at 2:34 of the third period.

They said it

"We've got to keep moving forward. Another big game against a good team (the Chicago Blackhawks) on Saturday at home. We can't sulk over this and hang our heads. It is what it is. It happened. We've got to move on." -- Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones
"We could see in the third period when we tied the game the fans were going crazy. We got the power play and that's a big part of it, the power play always is important, and it won the game for us." -- Flyers goaltender Petr Mrazek

Need to know

Flyers forward Travis Konecny skated in warmups but missed the game and is day to day because of a lower-body injury. He was hit by a shot in the left foot during the first period of a 3-2 overtime win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. ... Philadelphia's streak of not having to kill a penalty ended at three games. The Flyers are the second team since the NHL began keeping power-play and penalty-kill statistics in the 1977-78 season to go three straight games without being shorthanded (Calgary Flames, April 4-9, 2015). ... Gostisbehere got his 100th NHL assist on Patrick's goal.

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-O, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)
Flyers: At the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (2 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, TSN5, NBCSP+, NHL.TV)