PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Owen Tippett scored his second goal of the game with 15.5 seconds left in overtime and the Philadelphia Flyers snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
James van Riemsdyk scored his 300th career goal and Joel Farabee added a score for the Flyers. Carter Hart made 28 saves.
Trey Fix-Wolansky, Sean Kuraly and Liam Foudy scored for Columbus, which has lost four in a row and eight of nine.
Neither team had great chances in the overtime until Tippett shot high over goalie Michael Hutchinson (35 saves) from close range with seconds left in OT. Ivan Provorov and Cam York assisted the winner.
“Provy made a great pass coming into the zone,” Tippiett said. “Ideally, I was going back to him on my backhand and just opened up room to bring it back to my forehand and try to put it in there.”
The game matched two of the league’s worst clubs. The Blue Jackets entered last in the Eastern Conference and tied with Chicago for fewest points in the NHL.
“We kept pushing all the way through there,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said.
Only six teams in the league had less points than Philadelphia.
Van Riemsdyk provided the night’s first highlight when his wrist shot from a sharp angle beat Hutchinson on the blocker side with 4:27 left in the first period, tying the game at 2. The 33-year-old van Riemsdyk, who was selected No. 2 overall by Philadelphia in 2007, likely was playing his last home game in a Flyers uniform. He scored 154 goals with Toronto and the remainder in two stints with Philadelphia.
“Yeah, it’s definitely nice to get those milestone numbers like that,” he said. “Obviously, I think it just means you’ve been playing a long time, but certainly one that I was aware of.”
The game was the final contest in Philadelphia for the Flyers, who wrap up another subpar season on Thursday in Chicago.
The once-proud franchise will miss the playoffs for the third straight season and fourth in the last five years. Philadelphia won its only two Stanley Cups in 1974 and ’75, but the club regularly made deep playoff runs.
The tumult that has been a staple of the Flyers in recent years continued this season, with the firing of general manager Chuck Fletcher after the trade deadline. Fletcher was unable to unload the expiring contract of van Riemsdyk. Dave Scott, who oversaw the Flyers for corporate owner Comcast, announced his retirement effective April 17.
First-year coach John Tortorella has gotten what he could out of a rebuilding club. The fiery coach also butted heads with top players and local media at times. The coach has said the club will be subtracting players this offseason in order to play the style that he believes will get the Flyers back to their winning ways.
NOTES: Columbus forward Eric Robinson did not play. He was injured in Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Rangers. …. Flyers D Tony DeAngelo, one of Fletcher’s top signees prior to the season, was a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game. Tortorella would not disclose the reason. … Columbus C Boone Jenner (upper body) skated in warmups but didn’t play.
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: Host Pittsburgh on Thursday and Buffalo on Friday to end the season.
Flyers: End their season Thursday at Chicago.
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