Denver Barkey, Matvei Michkov help Flyers rally from two down, finish road trip with 4-3 win in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It felt like the Flyers had been driving for years, but they closed out a five-game road trip that started on a road far outside of Columbus, Ohio, with their second win — and fifth and sixth points ― in five games.

Led by goals from youngsters Denver Barkey, 21, Matvei Michkov, 21, and Trevor Zegras, 25, Philly skated away with a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“We’re a young team, and what I’m impressed about is these young guys are chipping away at their game. They’re developing really well, and you can just tell,” coach Rick Tocchet said.

The Flyers extended their point streak to four games, going 2-1-2 on the road trip and now have six wins in 22 games. The victory is the Flyers’ first against a Metropolitan Division opponent in eight tries and their first multi-goal comeback win of the season.

» READ MORE: The Flyers haven’t won a game beyond regulation this season. How can they fix it?

The Flyers came out sluggish again and, before the first TV timeout, found themselves down 2-0.

Columbus won a face-off deep in the Flyers’ end, and Damon Severson set up Valeri Nichushkin for a one-timer from the high slot. The puck caromed off the end boards and right to a wide-open Dmitri Voronkov at the bottom of the left circle to score past Joseph Woll.

Exactly one minute later, Matthew Knies made it 2-0 off the rush. The Flyers skated into the Blue Jackets end, but Severson blocked Owen Tippett’s pass for a streaking Christian Dvorak, and Columbus transitioned up the ice.

Knies got the puck from Luca Del Bel Belluz at the blue line and cut to the inside edge of the right circle before firing off a shot over Woll, who had dropped down.

The game was starting to feel like the previous meeting between the two teams. On Oct. 27, Columbus went up 3-0 in the first period and, while the Flyers clawed back to tie it, the Blue Jackets won in overtime. This time yielded a different ending.

“I think we knew we were a resilient group from last year, and I think we’re starting to show it a little bit more game by game right now,” Barkey said when asked what the team learned from the road trip. “I think we’re just putting forth a good 60-minute, consistent effort. There’s less ups and downs, and we’re staying in structure more, playing fast, playing north.”

Barkey spoke about the forecheck and how the Flyers have elevated it, causing turnovers and capitalizing on their opponents’ mistakes. That’s what led to the first goal on Saturday for the Orange and Black, when Zegras scored late in the first period.

The Flyers got the puck deep in the Blue Jackets’ end and worked it around the boards, with Zegras tapping it back deep after a scrum along the left half-wall. Ex-Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov moved the puck back up the boards, with Travis Konecny hitting him right after, but it went right to Tyson Foerster.

Foerster, seemingly with eyes in the back of his head, zinged a perfect pass right onto the tape of Zegras, who drifted backward through the slot and fired one against the grain past Jet Greaves. The goal was Zegras’ fifth of the season, and snapped his seven-game goal drought. Foerster, who tends to start slow, has four points (two goals, two assists) in seven games in November after recording just three across his 14 games in September and October.

“I think we’re trying to get on a rhythm, get our game going. Some nights it’s going to be tougher than others, but as long as we find more consistency in our game, I think we’ll be all right,” captain Sean Couturier said.

“Obviously, there’s some downs at times; depends how you weather it, but I thought we did a good job tonight. Even down two could have been easy to pack it in and move on. But thought we fought hard to get back in the game, and this was a big win.”

» READ MORE: Tyson Foerster’s slow start is par for the course. The numbers support that.

Seventy-nine seconds into the second period, Michkov tied the game with an end-to-end goal that highlighted his recent strong 200-foot play and improved first three steps.

“I work with Slava [Kuznetsov, the Flyers’ interpreter and a skating coach] all summer on skate and I feel much better. It’s true,” said Michkov, who also added that he feels faster.

Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli got the puck and curled up at the blue line with his body facing the Flyers’ goal and unaware that Michkov was sneaking his way off the bench. The Russian winger lifted Fantilli’s stick and stole the puck, flying up the ice on a breakaway.

He almost lost the puck around the slot as Severson got his stick on him for a second, but Michkov stayed with it, dipped around a splayed-out Greaves. and scored on the backhand.

“Yeah, I see player with puck no look at me, and I look [at] the situation and fast skate and breakaway and [score] the goal. ... Today [we] win, and I’m so happy,” Michkov said.

The goal was Michkov’s 11th of the season. He is tied for 11th in the NHL with guys like Logan Cooley, William Nylander, Alex Tuch, and Connor McDavid.

“That’s a high level, unreal play,” said Tocchet. “He’s played really well. ... That’s a big goal. If you look at it, Columbus right away, 2-0, we needed ... some kind of spark, and obviously Mich gave us a spark with that goal.”

And then 62 seconds later, the Flyers led 3-2 thanks to a power-play goal.

Tippett laid a clean, hard hit on Kent Johnson in the offensive zone, and Blue Jackets defenseman Dante Fabbro took exception. The two dropped the gloves — Tippett’s first career regular-season fight — and Fabbro was given an extra two for roughing.

Tocchet thought watching Tippett go toe-to-toe with Fabbro gave the team a jolt. Well, 23 seconds into the ensuing power play, Barkey found the back of the net.

The Flyers moved the puck around the perimeter, Michkov to Jamie Drysdale to Porter Martone, who then walked up the boards before feeding Barkey with a clever pass. Barkey, who is now positioned in the bumper but was closer to the left circle, turned and scored over Greaves for his third of the season, all in November.

“I think it’s pretty cool to be on the power play in the NHL and trying to make the most of it,” said Barkey. The Flyers power play has scored a goal in four straight games and is now at 19.4%.

They had another chance on the man advantage when Michael Bunting drew a hooking call on Severson just over a minute later; however they could not convert. The Blue Jackets did tie it up later in the second.

Michkov sent the puck up the boards and out of the defensive zone, but Zach Werenski chipped it back up ice to Cole Sillinger. The son of former Flyers forward Mike Sillinger, Cole Sillinger fed it to Fantilli, who made a slight move to the inside before beating Woll clean from distance.

But with just over eight minutes remaining in the third period, Barkey scored the game-winner for his first career multi-goal game.

Severson tried to send an aerial outlet pass, but Noel Acciari knocked the puck down high in the Blue Jackets’ end. The play gave the Flyers a three-on-one with Couturier tying up Severson as Acciari passed the puck over to Barkey. The forward shot the puck past Greaves just as he was getting tripped by Charlie Coyle.

“Yeah, he’s playing great. I think he’s finding himself in the NHL, and for a little guy, I think he’s starting to get more comfortable and battling hard, and getting used to the bigger guys and strength-wise of the NHL,” Couturier said.

“Not only [does] he score, but I think he’s been reliable. He’s really helped our line out, be on the right side of the puck, and when he gets a chance, he obviously can make plays.”

Columbus tried to come back, with 11 shot attempts to the Flyers’ one, which came on a power play. On the same power play, with 2:32 left in regulation, Drysdale made a big-time sliding block on a wide-open Severson to help preserve the lead.

Forward Cole Knuble and defenseman Simon Benoit were each a healthy scratch for the third straight game. Defenseman David Jiříček, a former Blue Jacket, was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. He played against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday for the first time since Oct. 19. ... Tippett’s only other fight was in a preseason game in 2021 when he was a member of the Florida Panthers. He fought Corey Perry, who was then on the Tampa Bay Lightning. ... Columbus head coach Rick Bowness missed his second straight game due to an undisclosed health issue. Don Granato served as the bench boss in his place. ... Flyers defensive prospect Brek Liske committed to Wisconsin over the weekend.

The Flyers host the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday (7:30 p.m., NBCSP). Philly lost 3-2 in overtime to the Oilers on Wednesday.