Blue Jackets hang on to defeat Flyers, gain in Metropolitan

PHILADELPHIA -- The Columbus Blue Jackets won their sixth straight game and moved into the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with a 5-3 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

Cam Atkinson had a hat trick, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Boone Jenner scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves for Columbus.
WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Flyers highlights]
The Blue Jackets (38-28-5) moved one point ahead of the New Jersey Devils and matched the Flyers with 81 points in the race for third place in the Metropolitan Division, but Philadelphia holds the spot because it has one more regulation/overtime win (33-32).

"We're playing some of our best hockey now," Jenner said. "We're feeling good in the room, we're feeling confident every night going into a game."
Andrew MacDonald had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia (35-25-11), which lost for the seventh time in eight games (1-6-1), including four of five at home. Claude Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere scored, and Alex Lyon made 18 saves in relief of starting goaltender Petr Mrazek, who allowed four goals on 10 shots.
The Flyers said they felt they weren't ready at the start of the game, and coach Dave Hakstol shouldered the blame.
"Their team was a little more ready to play and that squarely comes to me," he said. "I thought their team was a little more ready to play in that first 20 minutes, and that can't happen at this time of year."
The Blue Jackets took a 2-0 lead on goals 11 seconds apart by Bjorkstrand (9:41) and Jenner (9:52) in the first. Giroux scored at 11:34 to make it 2-1, then Atkinson tipped a shot by Zach Werenski past Mrazek with 1:52 left in the period to put Columbus ahead 3-1.
After Gostisbehere scored on the power play 14 seconds into the second period to make it 3-2, Atkinson beat Mrazek off the rush from the right side at 3:23 of the period to give the Blue Jackets a 4-2 lead.
"I think it stopped their momentum for a little bit," Columbus coach John Tortorella said of Atkinson's goals. "They get within one, bang, we score one. They get within one again, bang, we score one. I think it just slows them down. Because if they start mounting the momentum and we don't score and they keep coming, who knows what happens. Maybe we get too nervous because they're really coming. It's a really big part of the game, scoring those two goals to get a two-goal lead established again."
The Flyers got within 4-3 on MacDonald's goal at 12:23 of the second, but Atkinson finished the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:59 of the third.

After scoring an NHL career-high 35 goals last season, Atkinson had six in his first 32 games this season. Since returning from a broken foot Jan. 25, he has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 23 games.
"First half of the season, I completely forgot about," he said. "I think when I broke my foot, it gave me a chance to hit the reset button, figure out what I really needed to do to get back to how I'm capable of playing. … Since I've been back I feel like I've been playing pretty much my game, minus scoring all the goals. But I think it's coming."
The Flyers had a meeting after the game.
"We just talked about the position we're in right now and what we need to do to get better," Giroux said. "Right now, we're all frustrated, a little [ticked] off. But that's good. When we get that one win, we'll get our confidence back."

Goal of the game

Atkinson's goal at 3:23 of the second period.

Save of the game

Bobrovsky stopping Nolan Patrick at 1:37 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Bobrovsky's save on Travis Konecny at 9:02 of the first period.

They said it

"We knew that they'd been struggling a bit [at home] and we wanted to jump on them pretty quick. Couple lines stepped up and got the momentum for us and found a way to get a couple early in the first period." -- Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson
"It's a tough stretch right now. We've been in this position before. We just need to put it behind us and get our confidence back." -- Flyers captain Claude Giroux

Need to know

Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones had an assist on Bjorkstrand's goal to extend his point streak to four games (four goals, four assists). ... Columbus forward Artemi Panarin had an assist on Atkinson's first goal to extend his point streak to six games (three goals, seven assists). ... Giroux got stitches in his upper lip and missed most of the second period. He has four goals and five assists during an eight-game point streak. ... Gostisbehere's goal was his first in 20 games.

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CITY, TVAS2, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Flyers: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, NBCSP, NHL.TV)