PHILADELPHIA – If the Flyers fans wanted something to celebrate as Christmas approaches, the team was more than happy to accommodate.
After trailing 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3, the Flyers came back each time and got the game-winner from Owen Tippett at 3:30 of overtime for a hard-earned 5-4 victory on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The win ended the Flyers’ three-game losing streak.
Tippett came in alone and deked past goalie Elvis Merzlikins for the deciding goal.
The Flyers have rallied five times this season when trailing after two periods. Some teams need a whole season to reach that total.
The Flyers are now 8-4 in games decided past regulation time and the eight wins lead the NHL.
“It keeps evolving and we’re a confident group when it comes to that,” said Tippett. “And we have the attitude when it comes to that to three-on-three. Obviously the more practice you get with it, the better you’re going to feel.”
In addition to Tippett, Morgan Frost helped the Flyers’ cause greatly with a pair of goals.
Jake Christiansen scored a go-ahead goal for Columbus with 4:11 left on the clock in regulation but the Flyers came right back on a goal by Tyson Foerster with 1:44 to play and it was tied again at 4-4.
The Flyers were down 2-0 after two periods.
Goals by Frost at 6:53 and Noah Cates at 8:48 in the third period pulled the Flyers even. Frost finished off a nifty pass from Tippett for a shot past Merzlikins. Then Cates connected from a scramble with Scott Laughton picking up the primary assist at 8:48.
At 10:01, Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus but Frost wasn’t done. He scored again with help from Tippett at 11:51.
It was a great play by Tippett. He zoomed across the top of the crease, then flipped what amounted to a semi-blind pass to Frost charging down the left side.
“Yeah, I saw he was there,” Tippett said. “He was in good position, it was a good job for him to stop and put that in.”
For the 12th time this season the Flyers found themselves trailing after one period.
Mathieu Olivier put the Blue Jackets on the scoreboard first. He got positioning on the Flyers’ outnumbered defense and finished off a pass from Kent Johnson at 15:47.
It was more of the same in the second. Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson tried to play a puck behind the net but lost it to Sean Kuraly. The Blue Jacket sniper quickly passed to Mikael Pyyhtia in front and the winger had no trouble finding the empty net at 7:05.
Foerster confirmed that Tippett kind of took the game over in the third period. He said it was exciting to take it all in.
“Yeah, he flies around, it’s great to watch,” Foerster said. “Everybody on the bench is thinking the same thing. So it’s pretty cool.
His line played good and he was one of the reasons they did.”
Frost nodded his head when someone said like it appeared the Flyers refused to lose this one.
“Especially after the last few games, we didn’t want to let this one go,” he said. “Sometimes it feels like we need to go down for us to really pick it up. It’s good to have that in the bag.
“That play (by Tippett) was pretty special. I’ve missed my share of empty nets this year so I had to hold on to that one and make sure it went in. You could tell the vibe from the crowd kind of changed. I think we really feed off that when they’re loud. They were really loud tonight, I think that gave us a boost.”
Like the rest of the Flyers, coach John Tortorella sounded relieved the Flyers found a way.
He’s been pleased with Tippett’s recent play. After a slow start, Tippett now has 12 goals.
“I think he’s had his legs now for the past couple weeks,” Tortorella said. “I think he’s really ready to take off. Very important for us tonight.”
>Gaudreau family ceremony
The parents and extended families of the late Gaudreau brothers, Johnny and Matthew, were recognized by the Flyers’ in a pre-game, on-ice ceremony. Johnny, who played for Calgary and Columbus in his NHL days, was killed along with his brother in a bike-car accident back on Aug. 27.
“You could tell after the first five, 10 minutes of the game there wasn’t much atmosphere in the rink,” Tippett said. “Any time you have a ceremony like that, it’s tough. It takes awhile for everything to flip over. I’m glad we were able to show them support tonight and get the win for them.”
Added Tortorella: “I wanted ‘Guy’ (the father) to go in and see the boys (players, in the locker room). I actually wanted him to read the lineup. But he’s pretty low-key. The holiday is a difficult time for that family. Probably for the rest of the time they are on this earth.”
>No home games for two weeks
The Flyers now embark on a holiday stretch in which they will play six games on the road. After a Monday night game at Pittsburgh, they get a three-day Christmas break, then head out west for games against Anaheim on Dec. 28, Los Angeles on Dec. 29 and San Jose on Dec. 31. Then they play at Vegas on Jan. 2 and Toronto on Jan. 5 before coming home to play the Maple Leafs on Jan. 7.
>Short shots
Sean Couturier was scratched for personal reasons. Laughton moved into his spot at first-line center between Travis Konecny and Joel Farabee. Olle Lycksell was called up and took Couturier’s roster spot by playing left wing on the fourth line.
Matvei Michkov’s goal drought hit seven games. He hasn’t scored since Dec. 7 at Boston.
