Postgame 5: Flyers Blanked by Blue Jackets

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-0, at Wells Fargo Center in the season home finale on Tuesday evening. Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan both had multi-point games for the winning side.

Neither team scored in the first period.

The Flyers opened the first period with four of the game's first five shots on goal. Columbus had the next three. At 9:54, the Flyers went to the match's first power play as Justin Danforth was called for tripping. With 34 seconds left on the 5-on-4, Matvei Michkov set up Tyson Foerster for a backhand chance near the net.

Philly went back to the power play at 13:35 as Voronkov was guilty of a hooking minor in the defensive zone. The Flyers were unable to capitalize.

First period shots on goal were tied at 9-9.

Columbus took a 1-0 lead at 2:32 of the second period as Dante Fabbro (8th) scored on a full-windup slapshot from atop the right circle. The assists went to Werenski and Monahan.

Bobby Brink came within a whisker of tying the game midway through the second period. Somehow, Columbus goalie Jet Greaves kept the puck out of the net. At 13:34, Greaves snapped a right wing Travis Konecny shot out of the air with a glove-save flourish.

Foerster was called for high sticking along the offensive zone boards at 13:56. The Blue Jackets went to their first power play. Samuel Ersson stopped a Monahan attempt in close during the 5-on-4 for Columbus.

At 16:54, Emil Andrae was called for neutral zone interference on Zach Aston-Reese. The Blue Jackets' Monahan won the ensuing offensive zone left circle faceoff. Second later, Kent Johnson (PPG, 24th) scored at 17:01 from the top of the right circle for a 2-0 Columbus lead. The assists went to Monahan and Werenski (58th assist and 80th point of the season).

Second period shots on goal were 13-11 Blue Jackets (23-21 Columbus through two periods).

At 3:49 of the third period, Greaves denied Foerster one-on-one to erase a Columbus turnover. Nine minutes into the third period, Ersson made a 10-bell save on Sean Kuraly to keep the deficit manageable at two goals.

Adam Fantilli flipped the puck over glass from the defensive zone for a delay of game penalty at 10:55. They were once again unable to take advantage.

At 13:26, Columbus built a 3-0 as Adam Fantilli (30th) redirected a Kirill Marchenko setup into the net. The secondary assist belonged to former Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov.

Ersson stopped 31 of 34 shots in a lost cause. Greaves was flawless on 29 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. They were 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster -27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink
39 Matvei Michkov - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
22 Jakob Pelletier - 25 Ryan Poehling - 74 Owen Tippett
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 23 Karsen Dorwart - 19 Garnet Hathaway

24 Nick Seeler - 6 Travis Sanheim
8 Cam York - 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula - 36 Emil Andrae

33 Samuel Ersson
[82 Ivan Fedotov]

Scratches: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), 35 Aleksei Kolosov (healthy).

PP1: Konecny, Couturier, Brink, Foerster, Michkov
PP2: Sanheim, Tippett, Cates, Lycksell, Drysdale

TURNING POINT

The game started out very competitive. The Blue Jackets took control after the Fabbro goal and never relinquished it. Columbus was decidedly the better team over the latter 30 minutes of play. They also got several excellent saves from red-hot goalie Greaves.

POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Desperate opponent: Needing a regulation win to stay alive in the Eastern Conference playoff chase, Columbus was the more opportunistic team.

2. Travis Sanheim: The three-time Barry Ashbee Trophy winner skated 23 minutes of ice time on Tuesday and registered four shots on goal. He was minus-two on the night.

3. Travis Konecny: The back-to-back winner of the Bobby Clarke Trophy led all skaters with six shots on goal on eight shot attempts.

4. Bobby Brink: The winner of the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Award had one of the Flyers' better scoring chances in the game. He finished with three shots on goal.

5. X-factor -- Garnet Hathaway: The Flyers Alumni Community Leadership Award winner and Flyers nominee for the 2024-25 King Clancy Trophy was credited with a game-high nine hits in 11:32 of ice time.