The Columbus Blue Jackets earned a 2-1 shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on March 15, capping off a demanding week that saw the team play four games in four different cities and collect points in each contest.
The result is significant for the Blue Jackets as they continue their strong performance during a busy March schedule, which includes a franchise-record 17 games. The team has now extended its point streak to nine games and has collected points in 19 of the last 21 games under head coach Rick Bowness, with a record of 15-2-4 during that span.
Bowness said, “We played a lot of hockey this week, we really have. But I give the guys a ton of credit. Listen, we just played three road games. We didn’t give up 20 shots 5-on-5 in any of the games. We outchanced the opposition two to one. The guys are playing their hearts out. They are. You have to give them a ton of credit because there’s no quit in this group. Yeah, it was a tight game out there. There wasn’t a lot of room, and they kept battling and I just love it.”
Kirill Marchenko scored his 100th career goal during regulation—becoming only the ninth player in franchise history to reach that milestone—and then netted the decisive goal in the shootout. Marchenko said, “It’s awesome. It’s really important for us and for the standings. It looked like a playoff game… Now we change it. It’s nice.” Goaltender Jet Greaves stopped all three Flyers attempts in the shootout and said, “Three super talented players on the other side, and they’re all super skilled in a shootout… Fortunate to have the result go our way tonight.”
The Blue Jackets’ penalty kill was also crucial late in regulation as Columbus faced nearly six consecutive minutes shorthanded but did not allow Philadelphia to score on its power play opportunities. Greaves said, “I thought the kill did a great job… Special teams is so important in these games, and I thought the guys did a good job.” Bowness added praise for his penalty killers: “The PKers won the game for us really… Especially that four minutes.”
Looking ahead, Columbus will aim to maintain its momentum as it returns home with two valuable points from this physical matchup.
