Kent Johnson scored his second goal of the night 2:22 into overtime to lift the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
Johnson scored off a feed from Adam Fantilli on the Blue Jackets’ second 2-on-0 breakaway of overtime. Dan Vladar had stopped the first rush featuring Cole Sillinger and Zach Werenski but was helpless following a series of back-and-forth passes between Johnson and Fantilli.
Fantilli and Denton Mateychuk scored the other goals for Columbus, which squandered a 3-0 lead before escaping with two points. Cam Talbot made 28 saves.
Philadelphia’s Jamie Drysdale tied the game with 11 seconds left in regulation, after Noah Cates and Trevor Zegras supplied the Flyers’ initial goals.
Columbus erupted for three goals in less than three minutes in the first period.
Fantilli, who scored the OT winner in the Blue Jackets’ most recent game, opened the scoring in this one with his fourth of the season. On a 2-on-2 rush, Johnson found Fantilli, whose shot slipped through Vladar for a 1-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, Johnson was the beneficiary of a turnover by Philadelphia rookie Oliver Bonk. Following the miscue behind the net, Werenski took a one-timer from the point that Johnson deflected home for his fifth of the campaign.
The Blue Jackets weren’t finished, though, as Mateychuk scored just 50 seconds later when he found space in the high slot and took a shot through traffic that evaded Vladar.
The Flyers got on the board near the midpoint of the second period as Porter Martone’s shot trickled through Talbot and was poked in by Cates for his first goal of the year.
Zegras scored off a rebound with 4:56 left in regulation, drawing the hosts within 3-2.
Then in the waning seconds of regulation, Zegras made a nice feed to Tyson Foerster, whose centering pass caromed off Drysdale’s skate and into the net.
With a goal and an assist, Zegras has three goals and six assists during a five-game points streak.