POSTGAME 5: Elvis, Columbus Leave Building with 4-2 Decision

In the front end of a home-and-home set, the Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-2, at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday evening. The Flyers held a strong territorial edge after trailing 2-0 and pushed back to tie the game at 2-2 through two periods. In the third period, Columbus forged ahead to stay.

The Blue Jackets scored the game's first goal at 2:38 of the first period on a tally by Brendan Gaunce (5th goal of the season). At 15:21, Carson Meyer (1st) made it 2-0. Noah Cates scored his first NHL goal at 17:35 to narrow the deficit to 2-1.
At 13:16 of the second period, the Flyers forged a 2-2 tie as James van Riemsdyk (18th goal of the season) deflected home a Ronnie Attard (first NHL assist and point) shot into the net.
The Blue Jackets re-took the lead at 13:16 of the third period as Justin Danforth (8th) potted what seemed like a controllable rebound. Sean Kuraly (12th) added an empty netter in the final minute.
Carter Hart stopped 26 of 29 shots. He was outplayed by Elvis Merzlikins, who authored 47 saves on 49 shots.
The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play. The Blue Jackets went 0-for-1.
TURNING POINT
Tied at 2-2 entering the final stanza, the Flyers yet again found themselves in "win a period, win the game" territory. They've struggled in finding ways to come ahead in the end this season. The Blue Jackets out-shot the Flyers 14-11 in the final period. Finally, Hart let a Bean rebound dribble out in front and Danforth beat the goalie through the wickets.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1. The Blue Jackets took a quick 1-0 lead at 2:38. Hart didn't have the right post entirely sealed and Gaunce took three unchallenged whacks at the puck before forcing it over the goal line. The assists went to Eric Robinson and Carson Meyer. James van Riemsdyk was the closest Flyer to goal-scorer Gaunce.
Neither team could establish a prolonged territorial edge through the first nine minutes (shots on goal were 7-5 Flyers). At 9:39, Travis Sanheim was tripped up behind the Columbus net and the Flyers went on the game's first power play as Sean Kuraly got the gate. The Flyers generated four shots on goal and then a side-angle shot by Kevin Hayes right after the penalty expired but couldn't tie the game.
The Flyers coughed up a 2-on-1 rush as Ronnie Attard stepped up for a hit and play went by him. Defended by Keith Yandle, Zach Werenski passed to Meyer in the slot for a goal and 2-0 lead. Robinson got his second assist of the opening period on the play. The Yandle-Attard pairing was out for both Columbus goals.
The Flyers went back to the power play at 15;03 as Vladislav Gavrikov was called for holding Owen Tippett's stick. Once again, the Flyers generated several shots but were unable to score.
At 17:35, the Flyers won a side board battle and worked a little give-and-go with Patrick Brown finding an open Cates in the right slot. Cates made no mistake and the Flyers shaved the deficit to 2-1.

Hart made a sprawling save on Meyer in the final half-,minute of the first period after Frost gambled and came up empty on a poke check attempt in the neutral zone.
2. First period shots on goal were 20-8 in the Flyers' favor and shot attempts were 27-14 (65.85% Corsi) as the Flyers stepped up their attack as the period moved along. However, high-danger chances favored Columbus 4-3 (overall scoring chances were 9-6 Flyers. Six of the Flyers' shots came on the power play including three by Frost. Rasmus Ristolainen was credited with four hits. The Flyers had only two charged turnovers -- one giveaway and one takeaway by Columbus's Oliver Bjorkstrand.
3. Merzlikins fought off a Cam York point shot through a Frost screen in the opening minute of the second period. At the other end of the ice, Hart absorbed a
Patrik Laine shot from just above the top of the left circle.
Atkinson, Frost, Farabee and Sanheim combined to create a furious scramble in the Columbus zone. The Flyers didn't get a goal but got their third power play as Robinson was called for slashing at 3:42. The Blue Jackets, who never clearly got possession during the delayed call, got the benefit of a generous whistle. During the power play it took the Flyers more than half of the time to get set up but generated a double-deflection that hit the post and stayed out.
The Flyers fourth line -- first Oskar Lindblom and then Nate Thompson -- had two cracks at a loose puck in the crease. At the other end of the ice, a Werenski shot through traffic rang off the goal post.
With seven minutes left in the middle frame, Tippett had his third breakaway in the last two games. He was denied by Merzlikins. However, the Flyers kept up the attack. At 13:16, van Riemsdyk set up in front and deflected Attard's point shot into the net to tie the game at 2-2. For Attard, it was his first NHL point. Hayes earned the secondary assist.

The Frost line, with Hayes coming out on a partial line change near the end -- generated a Farabee chance off the rush and then an Atkinson one-timer at the end of a dynamic shift. The period closed with Ristolainen steering Justin Danforth to the board and finishing the hit behind the net as the puck dribbled away.
4) The middle frame was a dominant period for the Flyers with the exception of one prolonged D-zone shift. Shots on goal were 18-8 Flyers (attempts were 28-21,57.14 percent Corsi). More importantly, unlike the first period, this time the Flyers generated very strong shot quality on top of quantity -- a 7-2 high-danger chance edge and 15-8 overall scoring opportunity edge. Columbus was fortunate to get out of the period tied.
Through two periods, Frost led the Flyers with five shots on goal and 9-for-12 mark on the power play. His whole line was buzzing although there was no goal payoff. Overall, the Flyers won 21 of 34 faceoffs through two periods. On the blueline, Ivan Provorov had four shots on goal and four blocks.
5) After Thompson flubbed a shot opportunity from the lower slot, Gaunce took the puck to the net at the other end. He bumped into Hart in the process.Shots were 4-0 Blue Jackets until Tippett had a scoring chance near the left post off a feed from Provorov.
Farabee lost an edge and careened into the boards in the Columbus end. He needed time to collect himself enough to get to the bench and the Blue Jackets flurried at the other end. Back the bench, Farabee had his skate blade changed.
Hayes was denied on a breakaway at about the 7:00 mark, trying to go five-hole. At 7:17, Hayes drew a power play for his team as he was high-sticked by Laine in the defensive zone. One again the Flyers generated heavy pressure. A Hayes shot hit the post. An Atkinson attempt pinballed around but didn't go in. Merzlikins stopped a Farabee wrister from the high center slot.
Columbus finally received their first power play of the game at 10:44 of the third period.Farabee was called for slashing Laine as he moved over the middle. On the power-play, Laine blasted an early one-timer. The Flyers failed to clear. Laine fired off another blast. Hart stopped it. Hayes ragged time off the clock with some nifty, albeit risky, stickhandling.
Columbus took a 4-2 lead at 13:16. Hart couldn't control a Jake Bean rebound and Danforth put it through the goalie's legs. Kuraly got the secondary assist.
Frost got a good look at the net from between the circles but double clutched and was blocked out of play. At the other end of the ice, Frost blocked a Werenski shot.
The Flyers pulled Hart for an extra attacker in the final two minutes. Kuraly added an empty net goal at 19:40.