Bobrovsky, Blue Jackets shut out Flyers

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly Staff

The Flyers road trip did not get any easier following a victory over the Minnesota Wild, who sit in second place in the Western Conference, as they visited the Columbus Blue Jackets who hold the third best record in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers came out strong against Columbus, generating more chances, and leading in shots 11-5 after one period of play. Vezina-favorite and former Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky made some incredible saves to keep the Flyers off of the board in the first period.

The two teams continued to trade chances in the second period until Wayne Simmonds broke his stick and could not get the puck out of the zone. Kyle Quincey jumped on the loose puck and quickly threw it at the net, where Alexander Wennberg passed by the goal just in time to deflect the shot through Michal Neuvirth's five hole for his 13th goal of the season.

The Flyers played strong at even strength, but could not generate any momentum while on the power play. The Flyers surrendered multiple shorthanded rushes to Columbus, and were 0-for-3 on the power play, including one to start the third period. 

Matt Read continued to look comfortable on the first line with Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek. He used his speed effectively and came within inches of tying the game in the third period when he crashed to the net and deflected an incoming shot, but Bobrovsky was able to flash the pad just in time to make the save.

Michal Neuvirth was challenged often in the third. Columbus had eight shots in the third period, the most of any period in the game. Neuvirth kept the Flyers in the game making multiple big saves including two glove saves on Seth Jones.

Neuvirth stopped 20-of-21 shots.

Despite Neuvirth's strong play, the Flyers could not solve Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped all 36 shots that he faced to register his seventh shutout and  career-high 40th win of the season. Bobrovsky moves on to 8-1 in his career against his former team.

It was also the seventh time that the Flyers have been shut out this season. 

The Blue Jackets have won all three games against the Flyers this season. They will meet again on April 8 in Philadelphia. 

The Flyers will be back at it tomorrow night when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:00 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period:

• None

2nd Period

• CBJ Alexander Wennberg (13) (Kyle Quincey) 13:11

3rd Period

• None

Game Statistics