Flyers playoff push hits a setback with a 3-2 home loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets

Travis Konecny said it best: “It’s not like we were going to win out the rest of the year.”

But a win against the Columbus Blue Jackets would have certainly helped.

The Flyers returned home from an impressive three-game West Coast sweep that made everyone start believing that maybe they could sneak into the postseason. But they couldn’t carry that momentum against the Blue Jackets at Xfinity Mobile Arena, losing 3-2.

Was it bad juju at home? The Flyers are now 3-7-4 in their last 14 home games. Was it the curse of their inability to win four straight? Maybe. The Flyers have not won four straight games since Feb. 6-12, 2024.

» READ MORE: Noah Cates continues to emerge as a leader on and off the ice for the surging Flyers

Jamie Drysdale scored with just over two minutes left in regulation to make it 3-2 during a six-on-five after receiving a pass from Trevor Zegras. But the Flyers couldn’t find the equalizer despite having five shot attempts in the final 90 seconds, including Denver Barkey deflecting a centering pass just wide.

Columbus swept the season series and, with the win, jumped ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lost to the Colorado Avalanche, 6-2, for the second seed in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers remain six points back of the third-place Penguins, and are five points back of the Ottawa Senators for the final wild card. Ottawa won its fourth straight on Tuesday, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 3-2.

Things started well for the Flyers, when they had their legs. Noah Cates had a chance to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead with 6 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the first period — twice.

He put pressure on Columbus center Adam Fantilli just inside the Flyers’ blueline before receiving a pass from Christian Dvorak to streak past Kirill Marchenko and Fantilli. Marchenko hooked Cates, who was unable to get a shot off, leading to a penalty shot. However, he was stopped by Columbus goalie Jet Greaves’ blocker.

But less than four minutes later, Sean Couturier gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with his eighth goal of the season. Couturier (upper-body injury), Luke Glendening (lower-body injury), and Barkey (upper-body injury) returned to the lineup after missing the last two games.

The play started in the neutral zone when Fantilli couldn’t handle a pass, and Garnet Hathaway chipped it up to Couturier, who sent a quick pass off the boards to Glendening. He couldn’t control the bouncer, and the Blue Jackets took over — but not for long as the Flyers pressured Mason Marchment to turn the puck over.

Nick Seeler had a point shot attempt that was blocked, and Couturier crunched Marchment along the right boards to keep the Flyers in control. As he was skating toward the net, Rasmus Ristolainen put the shot on goal, and Glendening sent the rebound through Greaves and into the crease. At the other end was the captain, who scored into the open net.

The goal is Couturier’s third in his 11 games since the Olympic break after he told The Inquirer in mid-February that it “feels good to have a fresh mindset coming into the last stretch.” He scored five across his first 55 games.

In the second period, the Blue Jackets controlled more of the play. After getting outshot 10-3 in the first 20, Columbus outshot the Flyers 11-7 in the second period and took a 2-1 lead.

Mathieu Olivier scored 44 seconds into the frame, catching the Flyers on a bad line change. Skating in four-on-two, Olivier received a pass from Zach Werenski and beat Dan Vladař‘s glove to tie the game at 1-1.

Less than two minutes later, Werenski, who helped the U.S. win gold at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, gave Columbus the 2-1 lead. Vladař stopped Marchment on a breakaway, but Philly couldn’t get the puck out of its end when Zegras couldn’t connect with Owen Tippett in the neutral zone.

» READ MORE: Owen Tippett at center? Whatever it takes for persistent Flyers

The Blue Jackets controlled the puck, and soon after Werenski got it in the middle of the ice, skated right down Broad Street and beat Vladař glove-side.

Philly had chances to tie things up, including multiple on their lone power play of the game. Matvei Michkov put a shot on goal that seemed to handcuff Greaves, but Cates couldn’t bury the loose puck while being tied up by former Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov. Cates had another chance on the man advantage when he got the puck near the right post and spun in front, but just missed.

Less than five minutes into the third period, the Blue Jackets extended their lead to 3-1 when Marchement sent a quick shot from the left dot between Vladař and the left post as Cam York skated across his line of vision. The puck popped out so quickly and softly that it took some time for the horn to sound.

Forwards Nikita Grebenkin and Garrett Wilson, and defenseman Emil Andrae were healthy scratches. … Dvorak dropped the gloves with Dante Fabbro in the second period after he gave a good cross-check to Michkov. Fabbro got a five-minute penalty for fighting and a minor for cross-checking. Michkov was also handed two minutes for embellishment in addition to Dvorak’s major. … Glendening has three points (goal, two assists), is plus-2, and has won 59.1% of the faceoffs he has taken in six games with Philly. He won four of six faceoffs on Tuesday. … Ristolainen has three assists in his last three games. … Drysdale now has eight goals and 28 points in 67 games. He is four points shy of his career-high (32) set in 81 games with the Anaheim Ducks in 2021-22.

The Flyers host Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday (7 p.m., NBCSP). They beat the Islanders, 4-3, on Tuesday.