Postgame RAV4: Flyers Fall to Columbus

The Philadelphia Flyers lost in regulation to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday evening. A five-minute lapse in the second period proved fatal.

The Flyers opened the game with a very strong first period. Late in the frame, Flyers captain Sean Couturier (7th goal of the season) provided a 1-0 lead. It easily could have been a multi-goal lead but the process overall was excellent.

Columbus answered with two quick goals early in the second period. In the opening minute, Mathieu Olivier (15th) tied the game. Shortly thereafter, Zach Werenski (21st) untied it. The Flyers regained equilibrium as the period unfolded but they went off trailing by a goal.

Mason Marchment (17th) provided the Blue Jackets' third goal early in the third period. Jamie Drysdale (8th) got one back with an empty net at the other end, Philly was unable to find an equalizer.

Dan Vladar took the loss. He stopped 16 of 19 shots. Jet Greaves earned the win, making 23 saves on 25.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Alex Bump put a right circle backhander on net for Philly's first shot at 1:27. At 5:35, Owen Tippett went in alone on Greaves after Zach Werenski fanned on the puck. The goalie made the save.

Through 8:10, shots were 5-2 Flyers.

Zegras took a careless high sticking penalty at 12:23. Noah Cates had a shorthanded breakaway at 13:28. He was hooked by Kirill Marchenko and awarded a penalty shot. Cates attempted to beat  Greaves over the pads but the goalie got the shaft of his stick on the puck. Philly killed off the remainder of the penalty.

The Flyers stayed aggressive and it paid off. 

Couturier won a battle on the side boards. He later went to the net and stashed home the loose puck after Luke Glendening put the puck through Greaves in the blue paint. The secondary assist went to Rasmus Ristolainen at 17:07.

In the final minute of the period, the Philadelphia fourth line threatened again.

Shots: Flyers 10 - Blue Jackets 3
Faceoffs; Flyers 5 - Blue Jackets 8 

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Columbus wasted little time tying the game. On the offensive zone entry, Olivier got the puck and scored over Vladar's glove to the short side at 0:44. The assists went to Werenski and Damon Severson. Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim and Ristolainen were drawn to the middle, and Olivier scored from the flank near the faceoff dot.

At 2:28, Columbus struck again. Zegras turned over the puck on the side boards. This time Werenski got the puck over the middle from Severson and wristed a shot home past Vladar. The second assist went to Mason Marchment.

Through 6:20, shots for the period were 7-2 Columbus.

At 11:43,  Vladar cleanly gloved down a Marchment shot from the right dot.

The Flyers went to the power play at 12:24. Olivier checked Noah Juulsen well away from the puck. The Flyers defenseman crashed into Vladar. 

The Flyers applied heavy pressure. Most notably, they very nearly scored as a Matvei Michkov rebound sat the crease until Ivan Provorov knocked Cates to the ice and the chance was averted.

Behind the play, at 17:34, Christian Dvorak dropped the gloves with Dante Fabbro on behalf of Michkov. The penalties evened out and manpower stayed at 5-on-5. Fabbro got an added cross-checking penalty for the hit on Michkov but the young Russian winger was tagged with an embellishment penalty.

Shots: Flyers 7 (17 overall)  - Blue Jackets 11 (14 overall)
Faceoffs; Flyers 9 (14 overall) - Blue Jackets 10 (18 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Tippett had a good crack at a Ristolainen rebound in the opening minute of the period.

Columbus made it 3-1 at 4:38. Marchment's shot from the left circle went in and out of the net off the back crossbar. The assists went to Marchenko and Adam Fantilli. Note: With play ongoing at 5:08, the Situation Room in Toronto halted play to review the goal. The clock was reset after the goal was confirmed.

Now holding a two-goal lead, Columbus focused on checking the Flyers tightly. Through 11:05, shots on goal were 5-5.

Tippett was called for a high-sticking penalty near the defensive blue line at 13:02. The Flyers killed it off but two more minutes ticked off the clock.

Philly pulled Vladar for a 6-on-5 with just over three minutes left in regulation.

At 17:56, the Flyers worked the puck around the perimeter and tried to get traffic in front. Drysdale delivered, assisted by Zegras and Dvorak.

The final desperation push fell short.

Shots: Flyers 8 (25 overall)  - Blue Jackets 5 (19 overall)
Faceoffs; Flyers 13 (27 overall) - Blue Jackets 5 (23 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Alex Bump – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Nikita Grebenkin – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Carl Grundstrom – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Sean Couturier - Luke Glendening -- Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Contain Werenski again

The Flyers kept the Columbus leading point scorer off the score sheet the last time the teams played one another. They were unable to duplicate the feat this this time. The star blueliner changed the complexion of the game with his primary assist and goal early in the second period.

2. Special teams

Philadelphia went 0-for-1 on the power play. They were 2-for-2 on the PK.

3. Between the pipes

Vladar was unhappy with himself about Olivier's short side goal. It was a nice shot by the Columbus forward, however. The netminder didn't see the third goal at all.

4. Dvorak

The Flyers' versatile center didn't hesitate to step in for Michkov after the Fabbro hit in the second period. He created a shorthanded scoring chance in the third period and later assisted on the Drysdale goal.