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 Five different players scored goals and the Blue Jackets
celebrated the 1,000th game in their history by dusting the
Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 Thursday night before 15,571 in Nationwide
Arena.
The Blue Jackets have been the NHL's perennial losers since joining
the league as an expansion franchise in 2000. Only once in 13
seasons have they reached the Stanley Cup playoffs, but they still
haven't won a playoff game.
Now they've won eight games in a row, the most in franchise history,
leapfrogging the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan
Division.
"The best word for how we're playing right now is 'relentless,'"
Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky said. "No matter what teams
throw at us, we find a way to dig down deep and come up with a win.
"Winning is hard in this league. To win eight straight is something
to be proud of, and it gives us a lot of confidence. But we have to
celebrate this the right way by continuing to work."
Defenseman Jack Johnson, center Derek MacKenzie, left winger Matt
Calvert, right winger Brandon Horton and Dubinsky scored for the
Blue Jackets.
Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, facing his former club for
the first time since he was traded to Columbus in June 2012, had 26
saves for his ninth straight win.
"It's special, of course," Bobrovsky said. "I know so many guys on
Philly, and I have good memories from my two years there.
"But this is where I am now. This is where I want to be. It's pretty
good here."
The Flyers got goals from center Brayden Schenn and center Vincent
Lecavalier and led 2-1 until the midpoint of the second period.
Flyers goaltender Ray Emery allowed five goals on 39 shots and has
given up 10 goals to Columbus in two starts this season.
The Flyers took a 2-1 lead after Lecavalier's power-play goal at
7:21 of the second period.
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But the lead was short-lived.
MacKenzie made it 2-2 at 11:24 of the second after Jackets
center Artem Anisimov found him alone streaking through the slot
for his third goal of the season.
The Jackets took the lead back with a power-play goal at 16:13
of the second when Wisniewski's wrister into the slot went into
the net off Calvert's left skate.
After killing off a 5-on-3 Flyers power play to start the third,
the Blue Jackets began to pull away.
Dubinsky made it 4-2 at 3:29 of the third and Horton made a
slick move to get around Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros for a
clean shot at Emery at 6:54 to make it 5-2.
"This is a lot of fun to be a part of," MacKenzie said. "Credit
to all the guys who have come in here the last couple of years
to really change the atmosphere around this team."
The Flyers have dropped three straight and are 2-4-2 in their
last eight, allowing 35 goals in that span.
"We're not defending very well," Flyers coach Craig Berube said.
"We're not good at breaking out the puck. We're turning it over.
I don't think it's our work ethic, it's just execution, but it
starts in our own end."
NOTES: The Blue Jackets played the 1,000th regular-season game
in franchise history. ... Flyers G Steve Mason missed facing his
former club for the second time this season. G Ray Emery made
both starts in Nationwide Arena, where Mason spent 4 1/2 seasons
and won a franchise-record 97 games between 2008-09 and 2012-13.
... Blue Jackets RW Marian Gaborik skated on his own for the
first time since breaking his collarbone on Dec. 21. He hopes to
represent Slovakia in the upcoming Winter Olympics, but it is
unclear whether he will be cleared by the Columbus medical staff
in time to participate.
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