Tippett has 4 points, Flyers rally for OT victory against Blue Jackets

PHILADELPHIA -- Owen Tippett scored at 3:30 of overtime and had three assists, and the Philadelphia Flyers rallied for a 5-4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

Noah Cates broke the puck out of the Philadelphia zone and found Tippett driving to the net, and the forward deked and scored around Elvis Merzlikins after Tyson Foerster tied it 4-4 with 1:44 left in the third period.

It was Tippett’s first four-point game in the NHL.

"He flies around," Foerster said of Tippett. "It's great to watch and everybody on the bench is thinking the same thing so it's pretty cool."

Morgan Frost scored twice, and Cates and Foerster each had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia (15-15-4), which scored four goals in the third and ended a three-game skid (0-3-0). Travis Konecny had three assists, and Samuel Ersson made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show the group we have in here," Tippett said. "We knew in the second intermission we weren't out of it. Just feeling the confidence and glad we got the job done."

Mathieu Olivier, Mikael Pyyhtia, Kirill Marchenko and Jake Christiansen scored for Columbus (13-15-6), which has lost six of seven (1-3-3). Merzlikins made 25 saves.

"We played the game hard," Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. "We maybe ran out of a bit of steam at the end and made a couple mistakes they capitalized on."

Columbus led 2-0 entering the third but Philadelphia began its rally when Tippett skated through the slot, spun and passed back to Frost alone in the left-faceoff circle at 6:53.

"That play was pretty special," Frost said. "The vision for that ... I've missed my fair amount of empty nets this year, so I had to hold on to that one and make sure it went in."

Tippett made another smart play on Frost's second goal that tied it 3-3 at 11:51. He shot the puck into the left corner, then tied up the stick of Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson to give Frost an open lane to shoot from the left face-off dot.

"I saw [Frost] was there," Tippett said. "He was in good position right when I shot that puck, and it was a good job for him to stop and just had to kind of take that guy out of it. So it's a great job by him and happy to see him put one in."

Tippett scored an NHL-best 28 goals last season and has scored seven in his past 10 games, but it was his playmaking that keyed the Flyers on Saturday.

"I think that needs to be his next stage, as far as becoming a better player," Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. "I think that's a big part of him getting better, not just being a shooter but a guy that can make a play."

Olivier made it 1-0 at 15:47 of the first period on a shot from the right circle set up by Kent Johnson's pass from behind the net.

Philadelphia forward Olle Lycksell appeared to score a goal with 5:39 remaining in the second period, but it was overturned after a Blue Jackets coach's challenge determined the play was offside following video review.

Pyyhtia made it 2-0 at 7:05 of the second. Ersson went behind his net to play a puck, but it bounced over his stick and went to Columbus forward Sean Kuraly, who found Pyyhtia in front of an empty net.

After Frost scored his first goal, Cates tied it 2-2 at 8:48, banging in a loose puck in the slot.

Marchenko put the Blue Jackets back ahead 3-2 at 10:01 when he scored from in close.

After Frost's second goal, Christiansen scored his first of the season on a shot from the right point to give Columbus a 4-3 lead at 15:49.

"It's been a while, so it felt good," he said. "Nice play by [Dmitri Voronkov] and the goalie was pretty screened. You want to try to contribute to helping the team win. Felt good for a little bit there and try to focus on the next one."

Foerster tied it 4-4 at 18:16 with Ersson pulled for the extra attacker. The forward got to the net and tipped a shot by Konecny past Merzlikins.

NOTES: Cates has goals in three straight games for the first time in the NHL. ... Konecny’s third assist was his 250th in the NHL. ... The Flyers scored three game-tying goals in the third period for the third time in franchise history (also March 26, 2024, and Oct. 16, 2001). Saturday was the first time they accomplished the feat and won. They also became the first team in NHL history to score three game-tying goals in the third period of a game multiple times in the same calendar year. ... Christiansen's only other NHL goal came March 1, 2022. ... Voronkov, in his 100th NHL game, had two assists to give him five points (one goal, four assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Marchenko has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak that matches his best in the NHL. ... Flyers captain Sean Couturier missed the game for personal reasons. … Lycksell, who was called up from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League earlier Saturday, had three shots on goal in 10:58 of ice time in his season debut for Philadelphia.