The Flyers welcomed a few familiar faces back to Philadelphia again tonight in Ivan Provorov and Egor Zamula. This was an important one for both sides, and they certainly weren’t making any new friends out there– Denver Barkey was boarded, Nikita Grebenkin was chatty as ever, and Carl Grundstrom fought Adam Fantilli. Two crucial points — or three — were on the line between teams in direct contention with each other, and it’s a disappointing conclusion to an exciting week for the Flyers. They really needed a regulation win to drag themselves back into the playoff mix, and Columbus will remain safely ahead of them in the Eastern Conference.
The Basics
First Period: 4:21 – Kirill Marchenko (Adam Fantilli, Damon Severson), 10:23 – Alex Bump (Emil Andrae, Christian Dvorak)
Second Period: No scoring
Third Period: No scoring
Overtime: No scoring
Shootout: Matvei Michkov (no goal), Kent Johnson (no goal), Trevor Zegras (no goal), Adam Fantilli (no goal), Travis Konecny (no goal), Kirill Marchenko (goal)
SOG: 28 (CBJ) – 17 (PHI)
Takeaways
Another day, another deficit
Fully committing to this bit, the Flyers concede first for the 45th time. The pacing was good early, but the Blue Jackets struck first, with Kirill Marchenko scoring his 25th of the season on a broken play. The puck pinballed around for a few moments, catching Travis Konecny up high, with nobody left to mark Marchenko in the slot. For several minutes, the Flyers’ skates looked rather muddy, especially in the defensive zone, before they did what they do best– tie the game anyway. They’re lucky to do so, allowing 10 shots and 1.52 Expected Goals through just half a period of play.
Experience the Philadelphia Flyers ice hockey team.
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) March 14, 2026
1-0 CBJ. pic.twitter.com/cJGh60bD7P
Through all manner of chaos, the puck gets past Vladar. Sometimes, you’re just unlucky, but it felt like a sign of how the rest of this game was going to play out.
Trevor Zegras playing exceptional at center
This is the most encouraging development over the last week or so. In a game where the Flyers got hammered on the shots and Expected Goals charts, Trevor Zegras remained well in the positives through 65 minutes at the center position. A recent Danny Briere press conference suggested they’re fine with keeping him as a winger, but if this carries through the rest of the season, they’ll have easily filled one of those top-six center holes. It was another difficult night in the face-off dot (two wins on ten attempts) but they’ve got time to work with him there; it’s obviously not holding back his play. Zegras led the team in shots on goal with four and Expected Goal Share at 76.2 percent.
Denver Barkey has entered his rat era
Denver Barkey, the smallest player on the roster, was an outstanding pest in this one. He was squashed against the boards in the first period on a play it seemed unlikely he would even return from, drawing his first of three penalties on the night. Barkey would return to make up for lost time, bowling into Damon Severson behind the Columbus net, and receiving a cross-check to the face for his actions. Severson was assessed a double-minor penalty.
Denver Barkey LEVELS Severson and all hell breaks loose.
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) March 15, 2026
Barkey has Columbus RATTLED right now….draws a double minor. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/seD2XTos1V
While he didn’t show up on the scoresheet, Barkey was a major presence. Between him and Nikita Grebenkin, the Flyers have an incredibly annoying group– maybe not what they had in mind when they wanted to be tough to play against, but it’ll work. Any doubts about the durability of Barkey should be gone after a gutsy performance from him tonight. He’ll be right at home in a physical atmosphere, and we know he can create offense as well.
Dan Vladar stands tall again
The Flyers, from the beginning, played on their heels. After four games in six nights, it’s understandable that they’d be a little fatigued, but given the stakes, you’d like to see them not get caved in for two-thirds of the game. It took everything they had, with four power play opportunities, to still not crack 20 shots on goal, but Dan Vladar held down the fort again and gave them every chance to win. There was talk of Vladar being tired, but it didn’t seem so tonight despite the loss. Through three periods, overtime, and the shootout, Philadelphia could have won the game. He managed 1.86 Goals Saved Above Expected– a stellar performance– and was let down by his skaters. “I could’ve stopped one more puck,” he says in the post-game scrum.
The power play continues to cost the Flyers points
In what was essentially a must-win game against a Columbus team ahead of them in the standings, the Flyers were gifted a double-minor to begin the third period. It was fruitless, as they so often are, and it was a great opportunity– four of them, statistically– to steal points away from the Blue Jackets gone awry. There’s just something missing about it, and if you can figure it out, there might be a nice-paying job for you in Philadelphia. Even with the power play time, the team managed just 17 shots in regulation. They’ll have one more crack at the Blue Jackets later this month, and we’ll see if the game means as much in the standings, but they also seemed to be alright with giving Columbus the overtime point regardless.
