Sean Monahan nets late winner as Blue Jackets beat Flyers
Sean Monahan scored the go-ahead goal with 3:28 remaining in the third period to fuel the host Columbus Blue Jackets to a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.
After Travis Konecny scored to complete his hat trick with 4:46 to play, Monahan regained the lead for Columbus after converting a feed from defenseman Damon Severson at the doorstep.
Charlie Coyle collected a goal and an assist on a night in which the Blue Jackets commemorated his 1,000th NHL game by giving him a silver stick, a Rolex and artwork.
Coyle wasted little time contributing while playing in his 1,002nd NHL game, beating the returning Dan Vladar to open the scoring just 38 seconds into the game. The goal was Coyle's 12th of the season and sixth in his last eight games.
Kirill Marchenko scored his team's co-leading 19th goal, Erik Gudbranson added his first, and Mathieu Olivier found the empty net to send Columbus to its seventh win in the last eight games.
Cole Sillinger and defenseman Zach Werenski each notched two assists and Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves for the Blue Jackets.
Konecny scored from the slot at 9:03 of the first period and again at 4:08 of the third. He completed his hat trick with his sixth goal in his last six games, bringing his season total to a team-leading 20.
Vladar denied a pair of point-blank shots in the third period to highlight his 26-save performance in his return from a six-game absence due to a lower-body injury. The free-falling Flyers, however, lost for the ninth time in their last 11 games (2-7-2).
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen exited after two shifts with a lower-body injury. Ristolainen, who did not return, was playing in his second contest since missing the previous six games with an upper-body injury.
Werenski won a battle for the puck before firing a cross-slot feed to Marchenko, who unleashed a one-timer past Vladar to give Columbus a 2-1 lead with 20 seconds remaining in the first period.
Gudbranson's blast from the point sailed past a screened Vladar, doubling the Blue Jackets' advantage 1:58 into the second period.

