Blue Jackets 5
(25-27-3, 53 pts)
7:00PM,EST,February 17,2015
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
M. Calvert (Blue Jackets - LW): Goals: 2, Assists: 0M. Del Zotto (Flyers - D): Goals: 1, Assists: 1C. McElhinney (Blue Jackets - G): Saves: 42, Save Pct.: .955
Associated Press
Big Third Period Lifts Blue Jackets To Win
Calvert scored two goals, including the game-winner midway through the third, to lift Columbus over the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Johansen and James Wisniewski also scored for the Blue Jackets, who snapped Philadelphia's nine-game point streak.
Wayne Simmonds and Michael Del Zotto had goals for the Flyers, who remained six points behind idle Boston for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.
Columbus bounced back from getting dominated in the second period, when it was outscored 2-0 and outshot 21-6.
"The second intermission, we needed," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "We needed to get off the ice and get in the locker room and regroup."
That they did.
Calvert scored the go-ahead goal with 10:06 left in the final period when he was the beneficiary of a deft pass from Cam Atkinson for an easy goal that put Columbus up 3-2.
The play started when Philadelphia's Vincent Lecavalier turned the puck over in his own zone. Dubinsky sent it toward the net from the point, and Atkinson passed to a wide-open Calvert in front.
"Inexcusable turnover," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "Put it off the wall. We talked about keeping the puck out of the middle of the ice against this team and that cost us."
Dubinsky then converted a rebound with 6:32 left to make it a two-goal advantage, and Calvert completed the third-period turnaround with an empty-netter with 55.3 seconds remaining.
"In the second we got a little too comfortable with a two-goal lead," Calvert said. "We weren't moving our feet, weren't forechecking, things that make us successful. We wanted to go back to our structure in the third and work hard."
Added Dubinsky: "We were a little ticked off the way we played that second. We wanted to go out and be physical. For some reason we got away from it in the second."
Philadelphia tied the game with a pair of goals in a furious final 2:35 of the second period.
Simmonds pulled the Flyers to 2-1 when he deflected Del Zotto's shot from the point past Curtis McElhinney. Del Zotto tied it with 51.5 seconds remaining when his slap shot from a sharp angle along the right boards screamed past a screened McElhinney.
It was an overwhelming second-period performance for Philadelphia, which rallied from a lackluster opening 20 minutes.
The Flyers remained scoreless, though, through most of the second thanks to some strong goaltending by McElhinney.
The Columbus goalie made a pair of impressive, sprawling saves on a Philadelphia power play with just more than three minutes left in the period, first robbing Brayden Schenn with a pad save and then extending his glove to stop Jakub Voracek on a rebound attempt.
"We're lucky to have Curtis," Dubinsky said. "He bailed us out a lot and gave us an opportunity to come out and have a good third."
Philadelphia had scored first in eight straight games before Wisniewski converted on the power play 4:51 in. Alexander Wennberg took the initial shot from just to the right of goalie Ray Emery, and the shot rebounded to a wide-open Wisniewski, who fired a wrister past Emery.
The goal marked the first time the Flyers had trailed in regulation since Jan. 27, a streak of nearly 466 minutes.
The Blue Jackets padded their lead 1:48 later when Johansen scored his 21st of the season on a deflection from right in front of the crease. David Savard took the shot from the point, and Johansen was the recipient of a fortunate bounce when the puck bounced off teammate Corey Tropp and right to him.
"Sometimes you make a couple of mistakes early in the game and it comes back to bite you," Simmonds said.
Game notes
Flyers D Kimmo Timonen, out all season due to blood clots, participated in the team's morning skate. ... The Flyers presented Columbus' Scott Hartnell with a $10,000 check for his charity in recognition of him recently playing his 1,000th career game. Hartnell was a popular member of the Flyers for seven seasons. ... Columbus won four of the five meetings this season, with two of those victories coming in overtime.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
Photo Wire
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 17: Shawn M. Garvin, the Environmental Protection Agency Regional...
(Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
Scoring Summary
| 1st Period | CBJ | PHI | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:51 | James Wisniewski (7)
(Power Play) Assists: Alexander Wennberg, Scott Hartnell |
1 | 0 | |
| 6:39 | Ryan Johansen (21)
Assists: Corey Tropp, David Savard |
2 | 0 | |
| 2nd Period | CBJ | PHI | ||
| 17:25 | Wayne Simmonds (22)
Assists: Michael Del Zotto, Luke Schenn |
2 | 1 | |
| 19:08 | Michael Del Zotto (6)
Assists: R.J. Umberger, Ryan White |
2 | 2 | |
| 3rd Period | CBJ | PHI | ||
| 9:54 | Matt Calvert (8)
Assists: Cam Atkinson, Brandon Dubinsky |
3 | 2 | |
| 13:28 | Brandon Dubinsky (6)
Assist: Scott Hartnell |
4 | 2 | |
| 19:04 | Matt Calvert (9)
Assists: Alexander Wennberg, Ryan Johansen |
5 | 2 | |
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