Columbus 3, Philadelphia 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Referees:
Brian Pochmara, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen:
Michel Cormier, Tim Nowak
Attendance:
16230
By The Sports Xchange
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- If the Philadelphia Flyers miss the Stanley Cup playoffs, they might well remember this Tuesday night heartbreaker in March.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, with a full embrace of the spoiler's role, scored two desperation goals in the final 1:04 of regulation, then went on to beat the Flyers 3-2 in a shootout in Nationwide Arena.
Boone Jenner was the only player to score in the five-round shootout, beating Flyers goaltender Steve Mason with a nifty backhand move.
Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped Philadelphia's Sean Couturier moments later to seal a most improbable victory.
The Blue Jackets, on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs, jumped off the bench to surround Bobrovsky, and coach John Tortorella stood on the bench pumping a fist.
"That was a relentless win for us," Jenner said. "You saw how much time we were getting in their zone, and we weren't getting rewarded for it.
"It just took us 59 minutes, and we were rolling. We finally got rewarded."
The Jackets got goals from Jenner and Cam Atkinson in the final 64 seconds of regulation.
"I wish the games meant something; I wish it was us trying to crawl into the playoffs," Tortorella said. "But you have to take it as a lesson to just stay with it and pull yourself up. They did a really good job of that."
It was a gut-wrenching loss for Philadelphia, even though they picked up a point in the standings and overtook Detroit for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
"Disappointing way to go," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "You have a two-goal lead and you walk away with one point. That's not good enough for us.
"It doesn't sit well. That doesn't sit well."
Philadelphia got a first-period goal from Claude Giroux and a third-period goal from Ryan White, and Mason finished with 51 saves.
The Flyers appeared to be in full control.
But the Blue Jackets scored two goals with Bobrovsky pulled for an extra skater, believed to be a franchise first.
Jenner scored with 1:04 remaining to give Columbus a chance, pulling them within 2-1.
With 7.6 seconds left, Atkinson scored from the doorstep off a loose puck to tie.
Bobrovsky, also facing his former club, finished with 31 saves. He stopped Flyers shooters Nick Cousins, Sam Gagner, Giroux, Brayden Schenn and Sean Courturier in the shootouts.
Mason stopped Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Dubinsky and Oliver Bjorkstrand before Jenner pulled Mason out of the net and scored on a backhand flipper.
Giroux scored at 11:42 of the first period, slipping behind the Columbus defense and coming fast through the slot when Brayden Schenn found him with a perfect feed.
White added a goal at 11:54 of the third period on a power-play goal when he scored from a scrum.
The game took a violent turn early in the second period when Blue Jackets tough guy Jared Boll delivered a huge hit on Flyers forward Pierre-Edouard Bellmare as Philadelphia was skating the puck out of the Columbus end.
Boll circled back and thrust the right side of his body, shoulder first, into Bellmare, appearing to get mostly Bellmare's chest but also hitting his chin.
Bellmare landed flat on his back and appeared temporarily staggered by the hit, and skirmishes broke out all over the neutral zone.
Boll was given a five-minute interference call and a game misconduct, ending his evening.
Bellmare went to the room for observation but returned later in the second period.
The Columbus Dispatch reported late Tuesday that the NHL was reviewing Boll's hit for possible supplemental discipline.
NOTES: Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky matched the franchise record for career victories (96). The player who also holds the franchise mark is Flyers goaltender Steve Mason, who played from the Blue Jackets from 2008-09 to 2012-13. ... Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno was a late scratch because of the flu. ... Flyers G Anthony Stolarz is likely to make his NHL debut on Thursday in Denver or Saturday in Arizona.
Top Game Performances
Philadelphia |
|
Columbus |
Brayden Schenn 2 |
Points |
Cam Atkinson 1 |
Claude Giroux 1 |
Goals |
Cam Atkinson 1 |
Brayden Schenn 2 |
Assists |
Brandon Dubinsky 1 |
Ryan White 1 |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
Boone Jenner 1 |
Steve Mason .962 |
Save Percentage |
Sergei Bobrovsky .939 |
Steve Mason 51 |
Saves |
Sergei Bobrovsky 31 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Philadelphia
|
33 |
2 |
1-5 |
4-4 |
10 |
37 |
Columbus
|
53 |
3 |
0-4 |
4-5 |
23 |
37 |
Upcoming Games
-
Columbus will play their next game at home against Carolina. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .419 after a loss.
-
Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against Colorado. The Flyers have a W/L % of .457 after a win and .514 after a loss.