Flyers beat the Blue Jackets, 4-1, in Cam Atkinson’s return to Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Since the start of the season, the Flyers’ mortal enemy has been the second period. They’ve allowed 83 goals in the middle frame (sixth most in the NHL) while scoring just 62 (fifth fewest).

But Thursday night at Nationwide Arena against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Flyers turned that narrative on its head, scoring three unanswered goals in the second period to secure a 4-1 win. Defenseman Kevin Connauton, winger Owen Tippett, winger Noah Cates, and winger Travis Konecny led the offensive attack, tallying goals to help the Flyers to their second straight road win.

“I think one of the things we talked about before the game was we had to be better in the neutral zone, and I thought we did a good job of that,” interim coach Mike Yeo said. “Whether it’s executing, finding a way to get into the offensive zone and playing in the offensive zone, whether it’s checking and not allowing those teams to get to their game.”

The Flyers were buzzing in the second after going down 1-0 in the first period by allowing an Eric Robinson shorthanded goal. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers registered three high-danger chances for to the Blue Jackets’ one.

Columbus attempted to claw itself back into the game in the third period, peppering goalie Martin Jones with eight shots on goal. However, the Flyers closed out by staying on the attack as Konecny scored with less than three minutes left in the third period.

After spending the first 10 seasons of his career with the Blue Jackets, Cam Atkinson returned Thursday to Columbus for the first time as a member of a different team. Atkinson received a warm welcome from the local crowd and got the starting nod alongside Joel Farabee and Scott Laughton.

“I‘m a pretty emotional guy,” Atkinson said. “So I knew it was going to be a good turnout. I didn’t realize it was going to be that great. Just all along the glass, it was hard to really focus on getting warmed up because I wanted to give everyone a fist-bump going around the glass.”

While Atkinson was the talk of the town, former Blue Jacket Connauton stole the show when he tallied the game-tying goal for the Flyers in the second period. Connauton forced a turnover in the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 rush alongside Kevin Hayes. Connauton held the puck, picked his corner, and scored on a wrist shot past goalie Elvis Merzlikins to tie the game at 1-1.

“This year’s been a weird year, bouncing around and in and out of the lineup quite a bit, but I feel like when I’ve gone in I’ve played well and been fighting the stat sheet a little bit so it’s nice to get that first one,” Connauton said.

In his first nine games with the Flyers after he was acquired via trade for Claude Giroux from the Florida Panthers, Tippett has had his fair share of scoring chances. The 23-year-old Tippett had notched 22 shots, one of which resulted in his first goal as a Flyer against the New York Rangers on Sunday. Against the Blue Jackets, Tippett scored the go-ahead goal to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead on a a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle.

“I think when you’re not getting chances is when you should be frustrated,” Tippett said. “When you’re getting chances, you know one’s coming. When one goes in and it squeaks in tonight, it’s a good feeling.”

Roughly three minutes later, recently signed college prospect Cates jumped in on the action. After the puck took a bounce off the end boards behind the net, Cates skillfully maneuvered to the post to pop it past Merzlikins. Cates, 23, now has goals in back-to-back games against the Blue Jackets.

“Pretty fortuitous bounce,” Cates said. “It bounced pretty far out, and I just kind of chipped it, went off his back and in. Kind of a weird goal. Kind of lucky one, but I’ll take it.”

Going into their game against the Blue Jackets, the Flyers boasted the league’s worst power play in their last 18 games dating back to March 1, converting on just 9.4 percent of their opportunities. Not only are they struggling to score, but they’re also giving up shorthanded goals — in the same span, the Flyers registered five power play goals and allowed three shorthanded goals.

On Thursday night, the Blue Jackets worsened the ratio by tallying a short-handed goal against the Flyers. Eight seconds into the Flyers’ lone power play of the first period, defenseman Cam York’s shot from the blue line was blocked up front. Atkinson fanned on the rebound, and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov won the battle for the puck along the boards. Gavrikov passed Robinson the puck in the neutral zone to spring him for a breakaway. Robinson scored on Jones to pull Columbus ahead 1-0.

The Flyers head home to the Wells Fargo Center at 7:30 p.m. Saturday to face off against the Anaheim Ducks.