Ryan Johanson scores his first of two goals in the Blue Jackets 6-3 win over the Flyers. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)
As the second period started to wind down, the Philadelphia Flyers found themselves in a familiar position, down by two with the Columbus Blue Jackets continually buzzing. That's when the game took on it's form of deja vu.
In a matter of 20 seconds, what appeared to be a 3-0 Columbus lead turned into a 2-2 tie. The Flyers had shocked the Blue Jackets again.
But in the third period, the Blue Jackets found new life and powered past the Flyers, rolling to a 6-3 win on Saturday night from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Oh.
The Blue Jackets scored early as Ryan Johanson, whose nine-game points streak was snapped on Thursday, beat Ray Emery to give Columbus the lead. Johanson's 13th goal of the season was the only goal of the first period.
With less than six minutes left in the second, a shot from the point was deflected by R.J. Umberger to be Emery. The power play goal gave Columbus a two-goal lead heading into the final moments of the second.
That's when things got crazy. A shot by Brandon Dubinsky on a rush hit off the crossbar but stayed out. On the ensuing rush, Wayne Simmonds scored to make it a one-goal game. 20 seconds later, Sean Couturier tallied to tie the game closing out the second.
The third period was all Columbus. Daniel Savard and Boone Jenner scored 2:03 apart to give Columbus the two-goal lead back at 5:39. Johanson added his second goal of the game, and 14th of the season, at 12:22.
Simmonds cut into the margin with his second goal of the game with 1:41 left but Umberger added a second goal into an empty net to ice the game.
Curtis McElhinney rebounded from a devastating third-period loss two nights earlier, stopping 33 of 36 shots. Emery allowed five goals on 29 shots behind a struggling Flyers defense.
The Flyers, who entered the game with the fourth-best road power play, went 0-for-5 on the man advantage. Vincent Lecavalier recorded an assist in his first game back to action.
The Flyers return home to play their final game before the Christmas break. They host the Minnesota Wild on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Kevin Durso is the lead beat writer for Flyerdelphia. You can follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
