COLUMBUS — The Columbus Blue Jackets ended a five-game losing streak and spoiled the return of former coach John Tortorella to Nationwide Arena, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 on Thursday.
Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and two assists, Boone Jenner scored twice, and Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist before leaving with an injury for the Blue Jackets (4-9-0). Joonas Korpisalo made 32 saves.
Gaudreau said the key was scoring first, which the Blue Jackets did on his goal.
“The other team is trying to take chances and you defend well and play the right way,” he said. “When you’re up a goal, it’s easy to get a lot of odd-man rushes and looks.”
Video: PHI@CBJ: Gaudreau scores 6th goal of season in 1st
Ivan Provorov had a goal and an assist, Tony DeAngelo scored, and Carter Hart made 24 saves for the Flyers (7-4-2) after missing one game with an illness.
Tortorella faced his former team for the first time as Flyers coach. He coached the Blue Jackets for six seasons from 2015-21, going 227-166-54 in 447 games, and has the most wins in Columbus history.
Tortorella did not address the media after the game, leaving the duties to associate coach Brad Shaw, who said he did not know why Tortorella did not want to speak.
“I thought our checking was pretty good,” Shaw said. “We mismanaged the pucks a few times and they took advantage.”
The Blue Jackets played more than half the game with four defensemen.
Werenski left with an upper-body injury at 17:01 of the first period after missing a check and hitting the glass. Erik Gudbranson left at 7:15 of the second period with an upper-body injury following a check into the boards by Nicolas Deslauriers.
Columbus coach Brad Larsen did not provide specifics on either injury but said of Werenski’s, “It’s not good. It’s not going to be good at all.” He said Gudbranson is day to day.
Gaudreau gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 3:53 of the first period from low in the left face-off circle.
His six goals this season have come at home.
“I like playing in front of these fans,” said Gaudreau, who is in his first season with the Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68.25 million contract ($9.75 average annual value) on July 13. lot of fun playing in front of them. I’m enjoying my time here so far, so hopefully I can keep scoring here.”
Video: PHI@CBJ: Werenski nets 3rd goal of season in 1st
Werenski extended the lead to 2-0 at 12:03. Gaudreau had the puck on a 2-on-1 Patrick Laine when his cross-ice pass to the right was blocked by a Philadelphia defenseman Travis Sanheim. Werenski was trailing the play, picked up the loose puck between the circles and scored.
“They’re a good transition team. They waited for us,” DeAngelo said. “They made some good readings.”
Jenner pushed the lead to 3-0 at 37 seconds of the second period after Flyers forward Travis Konecny‘s giveaway created a 3-on-1. Gaudreau passed to the middle for Laine, who sent the puck to Jenner for a one-timer from low in the right circle.
“The lesson for a lot of our guys is we don’t have to work harder,” Shaw said, “we have to work smarter, be a little smarter with the puck.”
Video: PHI@CBJ: DeAngelo scores 3rd of season in 2nd period
DeAngelo cut it to 3-1 at 13:04, and Provorov converted a backdoor pass from Konecny to make it 3-2 at 8:41 of the third period.
Nick Blankenburg (1:31 left) and Jenner (18 seconds remaining) each scored into an empty net for the 5-2 final.
Korpisalo praised the play in front of him, especially with Columbus losing two defensemen.
“The guys were battling out there like crazy, especially dropping down to four defenseman,” he said. “Just seeing how they battled there, you see it, they put 110 percent out there and you want to do the same. It was just a great game by the guys.”
NOTES: Konecny had an assist to give him six points (one goal, five assists) during a four-game point streak. … Tanner Laczynski, a forward at nearby Ohio State from 2017-20, played 8:09 in his first NHL game at Nationwide Arena. … A video tribute to Tortorella was shown during a stoppage in the first period. He received a standing ovation. … Jenner has four points (three goals, one assist) in the past three games. … It was the Blue Jackets’ first game since losing both games to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 NHL Global Series in Tampere, Finland, on Friday and Saturday.
Video: Tortorella gets ovation, welcomed back to Columbus
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