First Posted: 2/13/2015
COLUMBUS — Artem Anisimov scored 2:17 into overtime to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night.
The Blue Jackets had been winless when trailing after two periods (0-20-0) and the Flyers had not lost when ahead going into the third period (13-0-2).
Flyers goalie Ray Emery stopped James Wisniewski’s one-timer, but Anisimov jumped on the short rebound and shifted the puck to his forehand to beat Emery.
Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and an assist, Cam Atkinson scored, and Jared Boll found the net for the first time in 64 games for the Blue Jackets. Curtis McElhinney had 22 saves.
Wayne Simmonds had two goals and an assist and Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers, who had a seven-game points streak (5-0-2) end. Emery finished with 29 saves.
Just 32 seconds after Corey Tropp was called for goaltender interference, the Flyers increased their lead to 3-1 at 5:04 of the third. McElhinney got a piece of Claude Giroux’s hard shot but Simmonds was there to clean up the rebound for his 21st of the season.
The Blue Jackets responded. Tropp circled out of the corner and spotted Boll crashing the net. Tropp slid a pass through the crease that Boll jammed in.
Columbus tied it with 4:40 left in regulation. On a rush, Dubinsky flipped a perfect lead pass to Scott Hartnell — who was honored earlier in the night for playing his 1,000th career NHL game on Monday night. Emery made the point-blank stop on Hartnell’s chip shot, but Atkinson netted the rebound for his 12th.
The Blue Jackets then had a big penalty kill in the closing minutes of regulation after Kevin Connauton was whistled for interference.
Matt Read’s nifty lead pass led to the first goal. Pinched between two Blue Jackets in the neutral zone, he shoveled a pass to Simmonds, who was streaking up the middle. He split the defense and beat McElhinney to the glove side midway in the opening period for his 20th.
The Flyers maintained that lead after each team scored in the second.
Dubinsky evened it when he chipped in a redirect off Connauton’s pass from the left boards. It was Dubinsky’s fourth goal of the year and first in nine games.
Simmonds and McElhinney tangled late in the period in front of the Columbus net. The goalie got up slowly while complaining to an official, but there was no penalty.
The Flyers then retook the lead on a weird bounce — or two.
Simmonds carried the puck from the right wing and squeezed off a shot. The puck ended up glancing off McElhinney’s shoulder and also bouncing off Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski before Couturier batted the waist-high puck in for his 12th.
Notes: Both teams came in desperate for a win. The Blue Jackets were 14 points out of a playoff spot, the Flyers eight. … Flyers D Andrew MacDonald didn’t play due to his grandmother’s death. … The Flyers played their third of a four-game road swing. They return home Tuesday to open a four-game homestand against the Blue Jackets. … Columbus , which had played four of five at home, next opens a five-game road swing against Eastern Conference opponents.
