Jakub Voracek burned his former team with a goal and two assists as the Philadelphia Flyers scored five times in the first period and kept the Columbus Blue Jackets winless on the road this season with a convincing 9-2 triumph on Saturday.
Rookie Sean Couturier scored twice, James van Riemsdyk collected a goal and two assists and Claude Giroux and Max Talbot both tallied for the fourth time in five contests as Philadelphia improved to 3-0-1 in its last four games.
Staked to an offensive explosion, Ilya Bryzgalov cruised to his third straight victory by turning aside 33 shots. The 31-year-old Russian's bid for his second shutout of the season and 25th career ended when Derek Dorsett tallied with 6:47 remaining in the third period.
Acquired in the offseason deal which sent three-time 30-goal scorer Jeff Carter to Columbus, Voracek forced a turnover and set up Talbot with 6:51 remaining in the first period to give the Flyers a 3-0 lead.
After Giroux scored 88 seconds later, Voracek capped the five-goal first period with his third tally of the season.
NHL-worst Columbus has dropped all seven road contests this season and fell to 0-10-2 dating to last season. The Blue Jackets are two road losses shy of tying their franchise mark, which was set in 2003-04.
Columbus | Philadelphia | |
Grant Clitsome 1 | Points | James Van Riemsdyk 3 |
Grant Clitsome 1 | Goals | Sean Couturier 2 |
Aaron Johnson 1 | Assists | James Van Riemsdyk 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Jaromir Jagr 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | Sean Couturier 1 |
Steve Mason .750 | Save Percentage | Ilya Bryzgalov .943 |
Steve Mason 21 | Saves | Ilya Bryzgalov 33 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Columbus | 35 | 2 | 0-2 | 4-5 | 27 | 31 |
Philadelphia | 33 | 9 | 1-5 | 2-2 | 23 | 38 |