Blue Jackets beat Emery and Flyers

For the Flyers, the Great Playoff Push was stalled Tuesday night by an old nemesis, Columbus.

Despite getting outshot by 44-25, Columbus ended the Flyers' nine-game points streak with a 5-2 win at the Wells Fargo Center. It was the Flyers' first regulation loss since Jan. 9 against the New York Islanders.

Columbus, which won four of five games against the Flyers this season, took a 3-2 lead midway through the third period when Matt Calvert finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play after a Vinny Lecavalier turnover.

"I thought we played better than them. The first period got us," said winger Wayne Simmonds, referring to the early 2-0 lead built by the Blue Jackets on their first four shots. "Besides that, I thought we were all over them."

Seconds before Calvert's goal, Ray Emery made a sensational stop on Jack Johnson to keep the game tied.

With 6 minutes, 32 seconds remaining, Emery allowed a bad rebound and gave Brandon Dubinsky a gift goal, putting the Blue Jackets ahead, 4-2. Calvert closed the scoring with an empty-net goal.

On the game-turning play, Lecavalier thought he was feeding Chris VandeVelde for a two-on-one, but Dubinsky intercepted the pass in the middle of the ice, starting the tic-tac-toe sequence that led to the go-ahead goal with 10:06 left.

"Obviously, I'd like to get that back," Lecavalier said. "It's easy to say now that I should have put it off the wall."

The Flyers missed a chance to move within four points of idle Boston for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Defenseman Michael Del Zotto triggered the Flyers attack, contributing on two goals late in the second period to knot the score at 2-all.

"We came out desperate in the second," said Del Zotto, whose team outshot the Blue Jackets, 20-6, in the period.

Columbus goalie Curtis McElhinney, who played superbly, made two eye-opening saves toward the end of a Flyers power play with about three minutes left in the second, stopping Brayden Schenn on a point-blank shot and robbing Jake Voracek on the ensuing rebound near the right post.

But just 29 seconds after the power-play expired, Del Zotto's drive was tipped by Simmonds past McElhinney from the high slot, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with 2:35 remaining in the second period. It was Simmonds' fourth goal in five games and his team-leading 22d for the season.

With 51.5 seconds to go in the second, Del Zotto ignited the crowd by blasting a shot over McElhinney's right shoulder and just under the crossbar to the short side, tying the score.

At the start of the second period, coach Craig Berube moved Michael Raffl to left wing on the top line and dropped Brayden Schenn to the third line at center.

The moves seemed to jump-start the Flyers.

The top line - Claude Giroux centering Voracek and Schenn - had no shots in the first period. The revised line had five shots in the second.

The Blue Jackets were without injured winger Nick Foligno, their leading scorer, but they built an early 2-0 lead.

"Sometimes you make a couple mistakes early in the game and it comes back to bite you in the butt," Simmonds said.

Less than five minutes after the opening faceoff, the Flyers trailed in regulation for the first time in eight games, a span that covered 466:40.

James Wisniewski and Ryan Johansen scored goals 1:48 apart early in the game, giving Columbus a 2-0 lead. Wisniewski scored eight seconds after Schenn's ill-advised interference penalty on David Savard. Schenn appeared frustrated by being dumped earlier in the shift.

Wisniewski scored from the right circle after Scott Hartnell's shot caromed off the skate of teammate Alexander Wennberg with 15:09 left in the first period, marking the first time in eight games the Flyers had allowed the first goal.

Less than two minutes later, Savard's point shot deflected off Corey Tropp on the right side of the net, caromed off Johansen's body on the left side, and got past Emery, who didn't have a chance. Johansen got position on defenseman Luke Schenn.

"We played very well in the second . . . but in the third period, we just have to find a way," Giroux said.

The fight for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot:

Points

8. Boston 64

9. Florida 62

10. Flyers 58

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