Tippett plays hero in Flyers overtime win against Blue Jackets

The Philadelphia Flyers took on the Columbus Blue Jackets on home ice for the last time in 2024 on Saturday night. While both teams stole a point, Owen Tippet played hero and gave the Flyers the all-important second one.

Morgan Frost gave the Blue Jackets the first powerplay of the game at the 2:15 mark of the first period as he got called for interference. The Flyers had a chance while shorthanded and the Blue Jackets only recorded two shots on net.

The Flyers got their first powerplay of the game at the 7:26 mark of the first period as Zach Aston-Reese got called for holding. The Flyers had trouble setting up and they didn't put any shots on net.

Mathieu Olivier gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at the 15:47 mark of the first period. Jamie Drysdale turned the puck over and Olivier found a loose puck in front and put it past Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson in the wide-open net. Johnson tallied the lonely assist.

Aston-Reece got called for hooking at the 1:55 mark of the second period, which gave the Flyers their second powerplay of the game. It was another powerplay where the Flyers struggled to get set up and the Blue Jackets had a great chance shorthanded.

The Blue Jackets took a 2-0 lead at the 7:05 mark of the second period as Ersson went to play the puck behind the net and turned it over. Sean Kuraly found Mikael Pyyhtia all alone in front and put it in the wide-open net. Kuraly collected the only assist.

The Flyers got their third powerplay of the game at the 3:29 mark of the second period as Kuraly got called for delay of game (puck over the glass without deflection). The Blue Jackets did a nice job of blocking shots and not allowing the Flyers to get anything through on net.

Frost got the Flyers on the board at the 6:53 mark of the third period. Tippett drove the net and passed the puck to Frost who had a wide-open net to shoot at. This made the score 2-1 Blue Jackets. Tippett and Travis Konecny were given assists.

The Flyers tied the game up at two at the 8:48 mark of the third period. Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made the initial save but a rebound bounced right to Noah Cates who put the puck in the wide-open net. Tyson Foerster and Cam York tallied assists.

The Blue Jackets took the lead back at the 10:01 mark of the third period. Ivan Provorov's shot was deflected, found Dmitri Voronkov in front, and then passed it to Kirill Marchenko who put the puck past Ersson. This gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead. Voronkov and Provorov collected assists.

Frost scored his second goal of the game to tie the game up at three at the 11:51 mark of the third period. Tippett navigated through heavy traffic and lifted a stick, which allowed the puck to reach Frost. Frost's snapshot went past Merzlikins in a hurry. Tippett and Konecny were given assists.

Garnet Hathaway and Mathieu Olivier were both called for roughing at the 12:41 mark of the third period. This made it four on four. Both teams got a few good scoring opportunities but neither capitalized.

Jake Christiansen gave the Blue Jackets a 4-3 lead at the 15:49 mark of the third period. Voronkov won the faceoff to him and his snapshot from the blueline went past Ersson. There was plenty of traffic in front of the net that blocked Ersson's vision. Voronkov was given the only assist.

The Flyers tied the game up at four at the 18:16 mark of the third period. They pulled Ersson for the extra attacker to go six on five. It paid off as Foerster redirected Konecny's wrist shot over the glove of Merzlikins. Konecny and Tippett tallied the assists.

Owen Tippett won the game for the Flyers at the 3:30 mark of the overtime period. Cates set him up with a saucer pass to the middle and Tippett finished it off with a backhander that went past Merzlikins. Cates received the only assists. The Flyers went on to win 5-4.

The Flyers' powerplay continued to struggle on home ice, going 0 for 3 but 1 for 1 on the penalty kill.

Ersson kept the Flyers in the game all night long with huge saves. He saved 21 of 25 shots, giving him a .840 save percentage.

Goal Summary

1st Period:

Olivier (9) Assists: Johnson (10)

2nd Period:

Pyyhtia (3) Assists: Kuraly (6)

3rd Period:

Frost (5) Assists: Tippett (9), Konecny (22)

Cates (5) Assists: Foerster (7), York (3)

Marchenko (12) Assists: Voronkov (8), Provorov (10)

Frost (6) Assists: Tippett (10), Konecny (23)

Christiansen (1) Assists: Voronkov

Foerster (9) Assists: Konecny (24), Tippett (11)

Overtime:

Tippett (11) Assists: Cates (6)

Flyers Next Game

The Flyers next game is on Monday, Dec. 23, in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.