Flyers lose to Blue Jackets, fall short in another big game at home

Flyers lose to Blue Jackets, fall short in another big game at home originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

After an impressive sweep of a three-game road trip, the Flyers failed to build on it.

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They lost to the Blue Jackets, 3-2, Tuesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

In a meaningful game, it was another disappointing home loss for the Flyers.

Sean Couturier and Jamie Drysdale scored the club’s goals. Drysdale’s marker came late in the third period as the Flyers emptied their net for the extra attacker.

The Flyers (34-24-12) again couldn’t win four games in a row. They haven’t won more than three straight in over two years. The last time they did it was Feb. 6-12 of the 2023-24 season.

Rick Tocchet’s club dropped to seven points back of the Blue Jackets (38-22-11), who entered Tuesday in third place of a tight Metropolitan Division. The Flyers went 0-2-1 against Columbus this season.

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• Dan Vladar made 16 saves on 19 shots.

The Flyers spoiled a strong first period by surrendering two goals in the opening 2:28 minutes of the second period. It looked like the Flyers had poorly-timed line change on Mathieu Olivier’s game-tying goal.

Zach Werenski handed the Blue Jackets the 2-1 lead when he skated through the slot untouched for a wide-open look.

Mason Marchment dealt the Flyers a blow 4:38 minutes into the third period as he cushioned Columbus’ advantage. At that point, the Flyers were in a real hole and the energy in the building was gone.

Blue Jackets netminder Jet Greaves stopped 23 of the Flyers’ 25 shots.

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Couturier put the Flyers ahead 1-0 in the first period. He did an excellent job to win a puck race and keep the Flyers in the offensive zone before being rewarded with the goal.

But the Flyers let the momentum go early in the middle stanza.

• The Flyers have too often come up short in big games on home ice.

They gain some steam, but then they lose it.

This month, they’ve dropped four of five games (1-3-1) at Xfinity Mobile Arena and have scored just 1.80 goals per game.

They missed out on winning four straight when they were blanked by the Mammoth, 3-0. Four nights later, they were blown out by the retooling Rangers, 6-2. They lost to these same Blue Jackets, 2-1, in a shootout 10 days ago.

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The Flyers have 12 games to go. They came into a busy night around the league five points back of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.

We’ll update the latest on the standings here once all the pertinent games go final.

“We’re in a fun spot, we’re playing in high-pressured games,” Travis Konecny said after morning skate. “We know that there’s a good chance that if we keep playing the way we do, we could actually get in. At this point, we know that the teams ahead of us have the pressure and we’re chasing them. Just keep applying it, keep putting it on them and just enjoy the games.”

• Couturier (upper body), Denver Barkey (upper body) and Luke Glendening (lower body) all returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with injuries.

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Tyson Foerster, while wearing a non-contact jersey, participated in morning skate and had rehab work after it. The 24-year-old winger is recovering from surgery he had on his arm in December.

While he appears to be making good progress, he’s not expected to return this season.