Flyers force overtime but come up short vs. Blue Jackets for second straight loss

The Flyers’ first 20 minutes were the worst. The final 40 minutes were much better. Overtime ended with disappointment.

Despite a ferocious comeback, the Flyers lost, 4-3, in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets on a two-on-none goal by Kent Johnson. Columbus was the only team below the Flyers in the Eastern Conference standings entering Tuesday, and they’ve now lost two straight and 11 of their first 14 games (3-7-4).

“Every game you have is a learning lesson. But I can’t keep coming here, on the mic, saying, ‘Learning lesson, learning lesson,’” coach Rick Tocchet said. “It’s a broken record. I’m just disappointed.

“... Some of the guys are — I don’t know what they’re doing [in overtime]. We had a meeting about it. We sent them video on it. It’s all puck possession. It’s being smart, and we give them two two-on-[nones]. That’s unacceptable.”

Less than a minute before the game-winning goal, Cole Sillinger and Zach Werenski had a two-on-none after Matvei Michkov was stripped in the offensive zone. Dan Vladař stopped Werenski after the two Blue Jackets played hot potato and fans chanted “Vladdy.” But after all three Flyers — Michkov, Cam York, and Denver Barkey — went low in the offensive zone, Johnson and Adam Fantilli broke out again all alone and did not miss.

Trailing, 3-0, after one period, in which they had two shots on goal, the Flyers came out for the second and third periods with more fire, will, and determination. They put 28 shots on former Flyers goalie Cam Talbot in the final two regulation frames, holding Columbus to six, and tied the game with 11 seconds left in the third.

Noah Cates said Tocchet “got honest” during intermission. Trevor Zegras said the message after the first period “wasn’t good. Kind of got whipped a little bit.”

Things started to shift early in the second period when Christian Dvorak had a chance in front after a Noel Acciari shot but couldn’t lift the puck enough. Defenseman Hunter McDonald, playing in his fourth consecutive game, had a shot blocked, chased down the puck, and leveled Jacob Christiansen to keep the Flyers in control. He finished with four hits and three shot attempts.

It seemed to get the Flyers and their faithful energized, and five minutes later, Cates scored his first goal of the season. Off the rush, Porter Martone put a shot on goal that squeaked through Talbot, and Cates, crashing the net, knocked the puck in.

The Flyers kept pressing and coming up big. Between a prime opportunity by Michkov at the right post and chances by York, who was activated from injured reserve Tuesday morning after missing eight games with an upper-body injury, and Dvorak, Vladař made a fantastic flying pad save on Valeri Nichushkin.

In the third period, the Flyers had better pressure, puck protection, and control. After the final TV timeout, they cut it to 3-2 on a goal by Zegras. Travis Sanheim put a shot on goal that was tipped by Dvorak on the way to the net before Zegras tried to score with his back to the goal. It didn’t work, but he stayed calm, stayed with the puck, and banked it in off Talbot for his fourth of the year.

Then, with time ticking down and Vladař on the bench, Jamie Drysdale scored his first goal of the season to tie the game. The blueliner carried the puck in and dished it over to Zegras as he headed for the net. Zegras fed it down to Tyson Foerster in the right circle, and he found Drysdale in front for the goal with 11 seconds left.

The goal is Drysdale’s first of the season. With two points on the night, Zegras extended his point streak to five games (three goals, six assists).

“We were flat, no energy. I think it took a kick in the butt to get us going,” York said. “Second and third, thought we pretty much dominated the game. Just felt like we were on our toes and dictating the pace of play, and just can’t come out like that.

“I think it’s just common sense. We knew that we weren’t good in the first, and that was pretty unacceptable. … I think as a group, we’re all pros, we all know when we’re not playing good, or things aren’t going our way, whatever. Just felt like we were like, ‘OK, let’s do this.’”

The comeback wasn’t needed if the Flyers came to play. The two shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes were a low for the season, despite having a power play, one fewer than their previous season low.

And the Blue Jackets took advantage, scoring more times than the Flyers had shots. In a 2-minute, 46-second span, the lifeless hometown team found itself in a big hole.

Fantilli, who got the assist on the game-winner, opened the scoring 10:58 into the frame with his fourth of the season. With Sanheim and Zegras trapped deep in the offensive zone, rookie defenseman Oliver Bonk was the lone Flyer back as Fantilli and Johnson broke out.

Cates charged hard off the bench after Dvorak went for an ill-timed change, but Cates and Bonk went to Johnson. And Fantilli played it perfectly, dropping the puck to his winger as the center split between the two Flyers, drawing in Bonk for a split second as he passed by into open ice.

It gave the two Blue Jackets time and space to create a gap, with Johnson threading the needle to Fantilli as he got behind the defense. The top-line center popped the shot through Vladař’s arm — it looked like he got enough to stop it, but the puck hit the handle of Vladař’s stick, the left post, and went in.

The teams were skating four-on-four after Michkov and Conor Garland received coincidental roughing minors and spent time jawing at each other in the penalty boxes.

» READ MORE: Hunter McDonald has made his presence felt with some booming hits. Next up, fighting lessons from Rick Tocchet.

Less than two minutes later, Johnson doubled the lead with his fifth of the season.

Off a defensive-zone faceoff won by Dvorak, it appeared that the Flyers were in control as they started a breakout; but Zegras couldn’t handle the Sanheim pass up the boards, and Columbus sent the puck deep.

Bonk knocked it down and tried to get away from Nichushkin, but he lost control when he tried to change direction. The Columbus winger picked up the puck and sent it up to the point, where reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski put a slap shot off Johnson, who was atop the crease.

Fifty seconds later, Denton Mateychuk made it a three-goal lead. York couldn’t handle the bouncing puck near the top of the Flyers’ zone. As a result, the Blue Jackets got to work.

Columbus controlled the boards and pressured the Orange and Black if they had even a sniff of the puck. Eventually, Mateychuk got the puck atop the circles, and he fired a wrister through a triple screen of Michkov in the slot and Drysdale and Charlie Coyle battling in front.

“You’re looking for consistency, and you’re looking for a group of players to play a certain way,” Tocchet said. “You’re going to have some bad things happen to you, but you need to stop bad things. And I think that just starts with a consistent mindset. I mean, it’s all mindset for me. Mental toughness and mindset, and we have to just keep working on that part of the game in that dressing room.”

Defenseman Simon Benoit was a healthy scratch for the second straight game and defenseman David Jiříček for the third straight. … Original Flyer André Lacroix died at 81. Lacroix played four seasons with the Flyers, notching 72 goals and 170 points in 245 games. He registered 198 points (79 goals, 119 assists) in 325 NHL games, including stints with the Chicago Black Hawks and Hartford Whalers, and is the all-time leader in points in WHA history with 798 in 551 games.

The Flyers get right back at it on Wednesday. They head to Washington for the first of four meetings against the Washington Capitals in Alex Ovechkin’s final NHL season (7:30 p.m., TNT, TruTV, HBO Max, NBCSP+).