The Blue Jackets record is now 38-22-11 with 87 points. They're now second in the Metro and one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lost to Colorado on Tuesday night.
Mathieu Olivier (15), Zach Werenski (21), and Mason Marchment (17-GWG) provided the offense for the Blue Jackets in a 3-2 CBJ win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. Jet Greaves played lights out to earn his 24th win of the season.
This was a massive win for the Blue Jackets' playoff hopes. The Islanders, Penguins, and Bruins all lost in regulation to move the CBJ into second place in the Metro. The Hurricanes also lost and are just 9 points ahead of Columbus. While the Jackets probably won't catch Carolina, they now have a new target to aim for.
First Period - SOG 10-3 Flyers - No CBJ Goals
The first five minutes of the first period didn't have much action, with lots of back-and-forth action but very little offense. Jet Greaves made a massive breakaway stop on Owen Tippett to keep the game scoreless. The Jackets, to this point, haven't really been able to get any real shots on Goaltender Dan Vladař either.
At 12:23, the Flyers' Trevor Zegras was called for high-sticking Dante Fabbro to give the CBJ their first power play. But just a minute into the man advantage, Kirill Marchenko was called for hooking Noah Cates while on a shorthanded breakaway to give Cates a penalty shot. Jet Greaves made a massive save, though on the penalty shot, to keep the game scoreless. Columbus goalies have stopped 17 of the last 18 penalty shots against, going back to 2010.
Sean Couturier would put the Flyers up 1-0 at 17:07 into the first. The Flyers are carrying play at this point and aren't giving the Jackets anything to work with. After Couturier laid a big hit on Mason Marchment, he recovered to find himself in front of Jet Greaves for an easy goal.
Second Period - 11-7 Columbus - CBJ Goals: Olivier, Werenski
Mathieu Olivier scored his 15th goal of the season just 44 seconds into the period. He and Zach Werenski played a little tic-tac-toe to put one past Vladař to even the score.
Zach Werenski would score his 21st goal of the season less than two minutes later when Marchment and Severson fed the Norris candidate to put the Blue Jackets up 2-1. Zach Werenski came out of the locker room ready to put the team back in the win column.
With 7:09 left, Mathieu Olivier took a penalty for interfering with Noah Juulsen. He was flat out bigger and stronger than Juulsen and ended up in the box. The Jackets were able to kill it off, but not without a little anxiety and big saves from Jet Greaves.
With 2:46 left in the second, Christian Dvorak and Dante Fabbro started chuckin' knucks after Matvei Michkov and Fabbro exchanged pleasantries.
The period would end with the CBJ enjoying a 2-1 lead. This was a much better period for Columbus, and more of how they've been playing for the last two months.
Third Period - SOG 9-5 Philly - CBJ Goals: Marchment
With 15:22 left in the third period, Mason Marchment would score his 17th goal of the season. No one in the arena, including the refs, knew Marchment scored except Mason and the CBJ bench. They stopped play after about 30 seconds and announced the goal.
Adam Fantilli drew a power play when he took a high stick from the Flyers' Owen Tippett, giving the Jackets their second power play. The Flyers were able to kill it to keep the score 3-1 in favor of the CBJ.
Philly pulled Vladař with 3:01 left in the third period to try to cut the lead. Jamie Drysdale scored to make it 3-2 CBJ with 2:04 left in the third period.
After the last two minutes of extreme pressure, the Blue Jackets were able to hold off the pressing Flyers 3-2.
Final Stats
CBJ APPPlayer Stats & Notes
- Mathieu Olivier scored his 15th goal
- Zach Werenski scored his 21st goal and recorded his 56th assist.
- Mason Marchment scored his 17th goal and recorded his 19th assist.
- Damon Severson picked up two assists.
- Kirill Marchenko tallied his 34th assist. The assist is his 200th career point.
- Adam Fantilli got his 32nd assist.
Team Stats
- The Jackets went 0/3
- The Columbus PK stopped the one Flyer power play.
- Columbus won 46% of the faceoffs - 23/50
- The Blue Jackets had 25 hits and 10 blocks.
Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets travel to Montreal to take on the Canadiens on Thursday.
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