Photo: Rob Windfelder | Flyers Nitty Gritty
The Flyers ended their 5 game road trip with a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus came into this game as the only team in the Metropolitan Division with less points than the Flyers. This was a game that the Flyers could not drop and drop they did not, here’s what happened.
Cold Start
The Flyers did not register a shot before Columbus was up by two goals. Dmitri Voronkov picked up a rebound off the back dasher and fired a perfectly placed sharp angle shot to beat Joseph Woll blocker side 3:19 into the contest.
Matthew Knies carried into the slot and beat Woll on the glove side with a wrister from the slot exactly one minute later. In between the Flyers had a 3-on-1 break where they never got a shot off. Matvei Michkov registered the Flyers 1st shot on goal 7 minutes into the game. At this point it looked like the Flyers may be in for another long night.
With 3:54 remaining in the opening period Trevor Zegras put the Flyers on the board. Tyson Foerster was putting in all the hard work along the boards before dishing the puck to Zegras in the slot. It was a perfect set up and Zegras one-timed it home. 2-1 Jackets.
2nd Period
Second periods have been a struggle so far this season for the Blue Jackets. Just 1:19 into the period Matvei Michkov made a crafty steal springing himself in on a breakaway. He streaked into the Columbus zone with two Blue Jackets hot on his trail. He went forehand, backhand, and over the pad of Jet Greaves to tie the game at two. It was Michkov’s 11th goal of the season, unassisted.
Owen Tippett nailed Kent Johnson with a clean yet devastating hit along the side boards. Dante Fabro took offense and jumped Tippett. This led to Owen Tippett’s first NHL fight. It was a good one, both players landing some shots but Tip gets the decision.
Flyers Power-Play
Fabro picked up the extra penalty for starting the scrap giving the Flyers a power-play opportunity. The Flyers power-play has been improving as of late. They’ve scored 11 goals on the man advantage in their last 13 games. This is a huge upgrade in an area of their game that has sorely been lagging for quite some time.
Another bright spot through this dark start to the season has been Denver Barkey. He comes out and competes every single night. He’s really coming into his own at the NHL level. He has a great knack for giving himself enough time and space to make solid decisions with the puck. And he hustles, always.
Just 2:21 into the 2nd period Porter Martone found Barkey in the slot with a pass. Barkey chipped the puck over the glove of the Columbus goaltender to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.
Not for long
The Flyers allowed Columbus right back into the game. Adam Fantilli went right up the middle and fired a shot from the slot that beat Woll blocker side to tie the game at three 5:44 into the second.
Joseph Woll
Woll is another guy who has been impressive so far this season. Joining the team as part of the Samuel Ersson trade with Toronto Woll has been quite solid in his starts with the Flyers. Oddly this was probably his loosest game of the season. However he picked up the win stopping 28 of 31 shots.
After an ice cold start in this match he made some big saves and was solid during the Blue Jackets final push. He had some questionable puck control but held things down and skated away with his 3rd win of the season. He’s played much better than his win-loss record reflects.
3rd Period
Denver Barkey put the icing on the cake scoring the game winning goal 11:54 into the final period. Noel Accairi fed the puck to Barkey in front of the net. The play that was similar to his first tally of the night. Barkey took a chip shot from the slot over the glove of the Columbus netminder to give the Flyers a 4-3 lead that they managed to protect until the final horn.
The Flyers went 2-1-2 in this five game road trip picking up 6 of a possible 10 points. They are right back at it Sunday night when they face the mighty Edmonton Oilers in Philly.
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