Columbus Blue Jackets drop to last after loss to Philadelphia Flyers

PHILADELPHIA — The Blue Jackets got a "win" in the standings with another gutsy loss on the ice. 

Despite losing captain Boone Jenner to a late scratch with an upper-body injury, they pushed the Philadelphia Flyers to overtime before losing 4-3 on a goal by Owen Tippett 4:44 into OT at Wells-Fargo Center. Columbus moved up to 57 points with the OT loss, but dropped to last in the league after the Chicago Blackhawks (58 points) won 5-2 in Pittsburgh. 

The team that finishes last in the NHL gains the best odds to win the May 8 draft lottery, which will give the team that wins the first of two draws the opportunity to select coveted prospect Connor Bedard. That’s a big deal for fans and media, but it’s of no consequence to players for the Blue Jackets, Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks (58 points) ― who played the Vancouver Canucks after the Blue Jackets' game ended.

“We’re here to play hockey,” Columbus center Sean Kuraly said. “There’s a lot going on. I’m not going to lie to you. There’s stuff going on. That’s the outside. We’re not oblivious, but the sole purpose is to come here and get 20 guys to win a hockey game.”

The Blue Jackets (24-47-9) played with only 19 guys after Jenner was ruled out shortly before the opening faceoff. It’s nothing new for them during a season-long injury affliction. 

It didn’t sink the Jackets, either. 

Liam Foudy, Trey Fix-Wolansky and Kuraly all scored goal in regulation and goalie Michael Hutchinson made 35 saves to secure a point for Columbus. It just wasn’t enough to get the second point against the Flyers (30-38-13), who finished their home schedule with a win thanks to Tippett’s two goals along with goals by Joel Farabee and James van Riemsdyk. 

“We kept pushing,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “Boone’s been trying to battle through some things and he just couldn’t get through it here tonight. It was a blender tonight. We had guys playing in different positions with a lot of different combinations.”

The Blue Jackets managed to start strong anyway, scoring the game’s first two goals for a 2-0 lead a little past the midpoint of the first. Rookies accounted for both tallies. Foudy made it 1-0 at 9:47 on a backhand that gave assists to Carson Meyer and Tim Berni. Fix-Wolansky made it 2-0 at 12:43 with an unassisted wrist shot off a rush up the left wing. 

It was short-lived. 

A little more than two minutes later, the Flyers tied it 2-2 on goals scored by Farabee and van Riemsdyk 34 seconds apart. Tippett’s first of the game put Philadelphia up 3-2 just 47 seconds into the second, which is how it stayed until the third.

Kuraly tied it 3-3 by tipping Jake Christiansen’s shot from the point past goalie Carter Hart at 5:50 and that set up another overtime finish for the Blue Jackets – who've gone past regulation in five of their past 11 games. 

Tippett finally ended an exciting OT with 16 seconds left in 3-on-3 play. His backhand-to-forehand shot from the net-front was the kind of move needed to beat Hutchinson, who was hot after stopping 14 straight shots between the third period and overtime.