Wrap: Merzlikins Steals 4-2 Win vs. Flyers
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.
Elvis Merzlikins was phenomenal in goal for the Blue Jackets. The Latvian netminder authored 47 saves on 49 shots and saw plenty of high-end shot quality was well as quantity including two breakaways and a host of looks from the slot. It took one uncontested shot from the slot and a deflection goal to get two pucks past him. Carter Hart had a just OK game at the other end, stopping 26 of 29 shots. The final rebound goal he allowed was a seemingly preventable one.
Flyers rookies Noah Cates and Ronnie Attard collected their respective first NHL goal and first NHL assist in this game. Attard and defense partner Keith Yandle, unfortunately, were on the ice for three of the four Columbus goals including a 2-on-1 play on the second goal.
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. Cates scored his first NHL goal at 17:35 off a nice feed from Patrick Brown 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. Through two periods, the Flyers held a 38-16 shot on goal edge and a significant advantage in bonafide scoring chances.
The combination of Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee and Cam Atkinson was really buzzing in this game (especially in the first two periods) but came away empty despite numerous scoring chances. Owen Tippett had his third breakaway in the last two games. Kevin Hayes also had a breakaway chance in this game. Merzlikins stopped them all.
The third period was more evenly played with a narrow edge to Columbus. 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.
The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play. moving the puck quite well, hitting a few posts but not delivering what mattered most: a goal. The Blue Jackets went 0-for-1.
Scott Laughton made his return to the Flyers lineup after missing 12 games due to a concussion. He skated 13:38 across 21 shifts, recorded a pair of shots on goal and won seven of nine faceoffs. To make roster space to activate Laughton off injured reserve, the Flyers assigned winger Hayden Hodgson to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
For more on Tuesday's game, see the Postgame 5 on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
The Flyers will hold a noon practice at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday. Afterwards, they will take their team photo: the first one since 2007-08 that will not have Claude Giroux in it. On Thursday, the Flyers and Blue Jackets will rematch at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.