By Michael Donovan
Goodbye, Columbus!
Nick Foligno scored 2:33 into overtime to lift the Blue Jackets to a 2-1 victory over the Flyers on last night, their first since a 16-game winning streak ended with two straight losses.
The Flyers’ Brayden Schenn had tied it with 17 seconds left to send the game into the extra period. Foligno then took a terrific pass from Seth Jones, skated into the slot and lifted a shot over goalie Steve Mason’s shoulder to get the win.
David Savard also scored for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky had 25 saves. The win kept Columbus atop the division with a three-point lead over Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers.
“Really not a lot of chances in the game tonight,” Foligno said. “Both teams were playing kind of playing defensive. We were able to get one early and they scored late, and we answered. I think that will be a good motivating factor for us going forward.”
Coincidentally, the Blue Jackets gave up the game-winning goal to the New York Rangers on Saturday night also with 17 seconds left, blowing a three-goal lead.
After a messy, scoreless first period in which Columbus outshot the Flyers 7-5, Savard got the Blue Jackets on the board 7:08 into the second with a slap shot from the left point. Philly challenged the goal, claiming that Columbus’ Josh Anderson interfered with Mason, but the tally stood.
Early in the first period, the Flyers had a goal waived off because of a goalie interference call. Officials ruled the Flyers’ Michael Raffl made contact with Columbus defender Ryan Murray, who ended up pushing Bobrovsky out of the way of a shot that found the net. Video seemed to show it could have gone either way.
“I really don’t bump into him hard,” Raffl said. “(Murray is) coming from behind and fighting for a lane as well. I think that’s hockey.”
The Flyers, who also were playing their second game in two days, squandered some chances. Earlier in the game, Schenn twice got point-blank looks and missed both times before pushing one past Bobrovsky from the doorstep to tie it as the clock wound down.
“I liked how hard we played,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We stuck with it all the way right through to the bitter end. There’s obviously some things we can do better, parts of the game where we can be better, but at the end of the day our group stuck with it and got a real important point.”
