Flyers Miraculous Comeback Falls Short in Overtime Against Columbus

After the worst opening period of the season, the Flyers came back scoring three unanswered goals, the last of which came with nine seconds left in the game, but they fell apart in the overtime period to lose another overtime game, 4-3, to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets got the scoring started with Adam Fantilli wristing a shot past Daniel Vladar for the first goal of the game. They got another goal when Kent Johnson redirected a shot by Zach Werenski in an odd sequence. Shortly after that, Denton Mateychuk shot a snap shot from the slot that got by Vladar for the third goal. That was three goals in 2:46, giving the Jackets a 3-0 lead.

In the second period, the Flyers got one back when Porter Martone ripped a shot that Cam Talbot didn’t handle, and Noah Cates was there to clean up the loose puck and bang it home, making the game 3-1.

In the third period, Trevor Zegras shot off of the back side of Talbot to get to within one goal. With 19 seconds left and an empty net and extra attacker, Jamie Drysdale deflected a Tyson Foerster shot for his first goal of the season with nine seconds to tie the game at three.

In OT, after a 2-0 rush at Vladar, which was stopped on a miraculous Vladar-style stop, Fantilli and Johnson had another two-on-one rush and they scored, giving Columbus the 4-3 win.

Flyers Lackluster First Period Digs Hole

The first period will be remembered for the lightning speed with which Columbus scored the three goals, but the real story of the period was the lackluster effort, which set the stage for the Blue Jackets to capitalize on the Flyers’ mistakes and lack of effort. The real reason that Columbus found the net three times so quickly was that the Flyers were not able to clear the zone for any sustained time during that barrage.

This was in large part due to Columbus playing much more physically on the boards, and the Flyers failing to match their level. The wall battles directly led to all three scoring chances, and kept the Flyers limited to only two shots in the first period. When your opponent has more goals than you have shots in a period, that truly puts your team in a hole that is very difficult to recover from, especially against an aggressive team like Columbus. The Flyers played much better in the second and third period, but to start playing the Flyer way in the second period makes the margin for error next to zero.

Flyers Passing Takes a Step Back

In the turnaround for the Flyers, one of the biggest improvements was how the Flyers passed the puck, especially in the defensive zone. In this game, the first period was a sloppy period all around, but the passing made the lack of hustle even more detrimental. This is something that followed them into the second period and was corrected as they moved into the third, which was why the Flyers had a strong close to the game.

The problem was that the passing, even in the last barrage which was ultimately successful for the Flyers in getting a point, but even on the possession leading up to the tying goal, the Flyers were pressuring Talbot, but missed passes forced the reset, which led to the Drysdale deflection. It was a fortunate bounce for the Flyers, but the passing needs to be cleaned up. The effort that was missing in the first period was cleaned up, but the passing was an issue for the whole game. But the effort and shooting masked the poor passing, which made the comeback effort that much harder.

Flyers Come Back Falls Just Short in OT

The fact that the Flyers came back from the 3-0 hole was a testament to how the hustle changed and the mentality of the team changed the way they attacked the net after the first period. The Jackets outshot the Flyers 7-2 in the first period, and after that paltry first period, the Flyers outshot Columbus 29-8, including the overtime period.

In the overtime period, the Flyers were overcommitting to crashing the net, giving the Blue Jackets a two-man rush at Vladar, and against all odds, Vladar stonewalled the shot and sent it the other way. After a barrage that didn’t result in a shot on goal, Talbot pushed the puck forward for another 2-0 breakout with Fantilli and Johnson charging Vladar alone, and after passing back and forth, Johnson snapped the shot past Vladar to give Columbus the extra point. After the putrid start, the fact that the Flyers got a point is impressive enough, but after the way the third period ended, only getting the one point is a bit of a letdown.

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