Columbus, OH -- A pair of former Philadelphia players teamed up to help the Blue Jackets win on Tuesday night.
Scott Hartnell scored a power-play goal in the second period and Sergei Bobrovsky came up with 19 stops as the Columbus claimed a 3-2 decision over the Flyers at Nationwide Arena.
Kevin Connauton actually ended the contest at the 1:58 mark of overtime, breaking in alone and lifting a wrister under the crossbar off a feed from Ryan Johansen to record his first goal as a member of his new team.
"After they scored that one, the mood was kind of down on the bench, but
we forgot about that one and pushed on," he said. "Good teams are able
to forget about mistakes and make up for it," Connauton noted. "Five-on-five, I don't know if I get the jump there, but 4-on-4 they got
caught three guys low and we were able to get a 2-on-1," he said.
"[Johansen] made an unbelievable play to draw that D over and create
space."
The hosts were close to picking up two points while not allowing their opponents to take one away.
Controversy erupted with 55.3 seconds to go, as a deflection from Brayden Schenn of a point shot slipped through Bobrovsky. Although referee Dave Jackson emphatically shook his head and raised his arms to stop play, televised replays revealed the puck was clearly over the line.
Further review quickly confirmed the marker and the game headed to overtime.
Boone Jenner also lit the lamp for the Blue Jackets, winners of a season-high four straight games.
Schenn posted both scores for the Flyers, who finished up a five-game cross- country road trip at 1-2-2. Steve Mason turned away 21 pucks in defeat, three days after his 37-save effort in Los Angeles allowed his club to pick up their lone win on the trip.
The Orange and Black now must take advantage of a four-game homestand beginning Thursday against New Jersey to start inching their way up the Metropolitan Division standings before an eight-game road trip takes them away from home for two solid weeks. Craig Berube's club sits eight points out of a playoff spot.
Jenner produced the game's first goal at the 12:34 mark of the first period, just 37 seconds into a Zac Rinaldo interference call, by picking up his own blocked pass off the skate of Philly defenseman Braydon Coburn and scoring from the right post. That pushed Columbus' power-play prowess against Philly to 5-for-8 in two-plus contests.
The Flyers got one back on their initial advantage, as Claude Giroux slipped a puck into a seam off the rush and Schenn one-timed it home from the high slot at 17:53.
A scramble in front of Mason resulted in Hartnell's turnaround backhander from atop the crease for another Blue Jackets' power-play goal and a 2-1 lead at 10:39. The goal, which saw defenseman Nicklas Grossmann as well as two other Flyers around the crease and unable to corral or block the shot, also piqued Mason.
"I haven't seen the video, but I felt I had contact, pushed me out of
the net and didn't put me in a position to get back," he complained.
Bobrovsky, who had earned Second Star honors for his performance last week, was quick to halt a Michael Raffl deflection with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, and Mason was called to the bench with 1:53 left for an extra attacker.
"We weren't generating a lot. We weren't great in our own end," Coburn
said. "We were lucky to squeeze it into overtime. I'm not saying we
didn't work hard enough tonight, but not hard enough to generate chances
or dominate parts of the game."
Notes: Jenner has scored in a personal best and team-high four consecutive games ... Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky was activated from injured reserve earlier on Tuesday, and made his season debut after missing 26 games due to recovery from abdominal surgery. He played 19:09 and assisted on Jenner's tally ... Columbus improved its power-play numbers against Philadelphia to six goals in 11 attempts over three meetings ... Flyers forward R.J. Umberger, traded for Hartnell in the offseason, participated in his 700th NHL game ... Schenn's initial score was his first goal since Nov. 22, and he recorded his second multi-goal effort after a similar feat on Nov. 15.
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