Flyers rally with five straight in third period, down Blue Jackets

PHILADELPHIA – A five-goal third period sent the Flyers to an improbable 7-4 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

Kevin Hayes had a breakaway in the third on the penalty kill to give the Flyers a 5-4 lead after trailing 4-2 in the period.

Kevin Hayes #13 of the Philadelphia Flyers

“No actual move (planned),” Hayes said of his breakaway. “I just wasn’t going to shoot it. He stopped two (breakaways) earlier on shots. He made the save, and luckily the rebound was right there.”

Brian Elliott made 22 saves in the win.

“I think we deserved to win this game,” Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said. “We were the better team. We had a real strong second period, tied it up, gave up that third goal, gave up an early goal in the third, and our guys just kept playing and just kept battling. Basically, after two periods what we said was we’re going to find a way to win this game, and that’s what we did.”

Boone Jenner had two goals, and Josh Anderson and Pierre-Luc Dubois added single markers.

“Our battle level wasn’t there tonight, you could see that. You’re going to come out on the wrong side of those games if you’re not ready to compete. [Goalie Joonas Korpisalo] gave us a chance, but we didn’t have any push there,” Jenner said.

Oskar Lindblom #23 of the Philadelphia Flyers tumbles across the goalmouth of Joonas Korpisalo #70 of the Columbus Blue Jackets

James van Riemsdyk struck twice, and Jakub Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere had goals for the Flyers.

“I think the feeling was we were going to come back,” Elliott said. “Even if they got that fourth one there, I thought the guys really stuck with it and played to our strengths, and I think I don’t know if I deserve that win so much, but the guys definitely did and they pulled it out for me.”

Michael Raffl‘s empty net goal made it 6-4 and Travis Konecny closed the scoring with a power play goal with 14 seconds left in the game.

[WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Flyers highlights]

Joonas Korpisalo made 39 saves in the loss.

“We did not play a good hockey game,” Anderson said. “We did not play with enough energy. We didn’t have enough battle in our game. It just wasn’t good enough.”

The puck floats above the heads of players from the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers.

Vladislav Garvrikov #44 and Oliver Bjorkstrand #28 of the Columbus Blue Jackets battle for position with Justin Braun #61 of the Philadelphia Flyers in front of Goalie Brian Elliott #37 of the Philadelphia Flyers