The Philadelphia Flyers will look to extend their season-high winning streak to five games on Sunday when they host the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets.
Sean Couturier scored one minute into overtime to send the Flyers to a 4-3 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
Flyers goaltender Carter Hart stopped 28 shots.
“It was a big win against a really good team,” Couturier said. “I think it was a good test. Thought we played a pretty good game overall. We got caught up in some penalty troubles and they gained momentum, but I thought we responded really well and stayed in control. That extra point was huge.”
Philadelphia’s Tyson Foerster played a strong all-around game and notched his first goal of the season. Foerster, 21, has been improving all season, and the goal wasn’t unexpected.
“He’s been one of the most consistent players as far as strength on the puck, as far as puck battles, stick on puck, retrieving pucks,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “He’s doing all the things that I thought we would have to spend some time teaching and making sure he knows the importance of it. He’s doing those things. The biggest strength of his game is scoring goals.
“We can’t teach him that. So, hopefully, this will help him get rolling that way.”
The Flyers’ four-game winning streak is their longest since the team won four in a row from March 21-28. They also ended a four-game home skid.
The reeling Blue Jackets fell to 0-6-2 in their last eight games following a 4-3 setback to the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Columbus’ Johnny Gaudreau celebrated playing in his 700th career game by scoring a goal early in the second period.
The goal had to be uplifting for Gaudreau, who has been benched twice this season by coach Pascal Vincent.
The Blue Jackets haven’t registered a victory since a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 2.
“It’s been the same problem were having,” forward Justin Danforth said. “We can probably play the same interviews over and over again. They’re close games and we’re in the fight but can’t seem to get it done right now. … There’s a lot of frustration. Any time you go on a streak like this, you work every day before it gets out of hand.”
Despite the maddening skid, the players refuse to wilt. They’ll head to Philadelphia with the same winning mindset.
“We’ve got a lot of character on this team,” Danforth said. “We’ve got to get one and start rolling.”
“It takes time to learn how to win,” added defenseman Ivan Provorov, a former Flyer. “It feels like we’re almost there but not quite. Almost there is the big difference between winning games and losing games.”
Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner played in his 675th career regular-season game, snapping a tie with Rick Nash for the most in franchise history.
