Chalk up another win for the visitor.
Leading the season series 2-0 and going for the sweep, the Columbus Blue Jackets finished up their series with the Philadelphia Flyers at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.
Kevin Connauton, Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers. Travis Sanheim had two assists. Martin Jones made 26 saves in the Flyers' 4-1 win.
Eric Robinson scored for Columbus. Elvis Merzlikins made 27 saves in his eighth straight start.
The road team won each game of this series.
Atkinson Returns
The Blue Jackets have seen Cam Atkinson a few times already this season, and most recently on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Thursday marked Atkinson's first return to Columbus for the first time as a visitor.
Crowd recognizes Cam https://t.co/GIheDMuy3l #CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 7, 2022
In his Blue Jackets career, Atkinson is second all-time in games played (627), goals (213), points (402), and fourth in assists (192). His six hat tricks rank first.
For the game, Atkinson was -1 with four shots in 17:31. On the season, Atkinson leads the Flyers with 50 points and 23 goals and is second with 27 assists.
Shorthanded Wizardry
It all came just moments after the original shorthanded king in Blue Jackets history, Cam Atkinson, was recognized in his return to Columbus for the first time this season.
Carson Meyer headed to the penalty box at 14:47 for high sticking and then at 15:06 Robinson buried his second shorthanded goal (third career), and his ninth goal of the season. Vladislav Gavrikov and Sean Kuraly picked up assists.
Gavrikov helped start the sequence by poking the puck ahead, up ice, and onto Robinson's stick.
After the tribute to the original shorthanded king, a new king emerges. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/YZjw9ZKC4Q
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 7, 2022
To be fair, Gus Nyquist leads the Jackets with four shorthanded tallies this season but Robinson was the man of the hour at that moment.
Atkinson has the Blue Jackets franchise record with 16 shorthanded goals. He leads the Flyers with three shorthanded goals this season.
Pace of Play
This game was unfolding fast in the first period with very few whistles, including a span of over eight minutes with continuous play. The quick pace of play continued throughout the game as everything concluded in under 2.5 hours.
Robinson scored in the first period but that was all the Blue Jackets.
The Flyers found the back of the net three times in the middle period with the former Blue Jacket, Connauton, scoring his first goal, unassisted, at 8:00 on a shot that beat Merzlikins on his right angle over his left shoulder.
Just over five minutes later at 13:26, Tippett, a trade deadline acquisition for the Flyers, gave Philadelphia their first lead. Sanheim and Kevin Hayes picked up assists.
At 16:41, Noah Cates scored for the second time in as many games, in his fifth career game, with Hayes picking up his second assist, and Ivan Provorov also getting a helper.
The sequence started with a shot by Provorov being eaten up by Andrew Peeke. As Peeke attempted to recover his position, Cates scooped the puck off the boards and chipped it off Merzlikins for the goal.
In the third period, the Flyers added the final goal with Konecny picking up his 13th at 16:55. Sanheim had his second point and Morgan Frost assisted.
Columbus was four-for-four on the penalty kill for the second straight game and is 13 for their last 13.
Winged Wheel
The Blue Jackets travel to the Motor City to face the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena at 7:00 pm ET. The season series is tied 1-1 after Detroit won on Oct. 19 in Detroit, 4-1, and Columbus won at home on Nov. 15, 5-3.
