Columbus Blue Jackets survive Philadelphia rally to win 4-3 in overtime

A result, not a preview

The fixture previewed in the 2026-10-27 evening edition is now a result, and it followed the most dramatic script available. The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday evening, 2026-10-27, at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, after a night that swung from a rout to a rescue act and finally to a sudden finish.

The period scores tell it plainly: Columbus 3-0 in the first, Philadelphia 1-0 in the second and 2-0 in the third, Columbus 1-0 in overtime. A visiting team in total control, a home team refusing to go away, and a sudden finish.

Three goals, less than three minutes

Columbus did not ease into this game. The Blue Jackets scored three times in less than three minutes in the first period, and the building went from loud to stunned in the space of a single shift change. Adam Fantilli opened the scoring, and Denton Mateychuk added the third goal of the burst, as Philadelphia's defensive structure simply came apart in front of its own net.

For the Flyers, it was a sequence, not one mistake: lost board battles, a lost man in front of the net, and a visiting team that kept coming. Philadelphia was chasing a three-goal deficit before it had found any rhythm, and the rest of the night became damage control that slowly turned into something more.

Columbus, by contrast, looked like a team that had finally found its scoring touch after struggling to turn chances into goals. Every good look seemed to matter, every loose puck fell the right way, and for twenty minutes the game looked finished.

Philadelphia's long climb back

Hockey games, however, are rarely finished after twenty minutes, and Philadelphia spent the next forty proving it. Noah Cates got the Flyers on the board in the second period, finishing from close range after Porter Martone had driven a shot on goal. It was a small goal in one sense, a tap-in from the crease, but it changed the feeling in the arena. The Flyers were no longer chasing a shutout loss. They were chasing a game.

The second period also brought Philadelphia's best sustained pressure. Matvei Michkov had close looks at the doorstep but could not corral the puck for a deflection. The Flyers kept coming in waves and kept Columbus goaltender Cam Talbot, a former Flyer, busy, and his calm under pressure became a quiet theme of the night.

Trevor Zegras then gave Philadelphia a genuine lifeline late in the third period, trimming the lead to 3-2 with under five minutes remaining. The goal rewarded a team that had refused to accept the first-period verdict, and it set up a frantic finish in which the Flyers emptied their net for an extra attacker. With the goaltender on the bench and the clock bleeding away, Jamie Drysdale tied the game in the final ten seconds of regulation. The arena, quiet at the start of the night, was deafening at the end of it.

Overtime settles it

Overtime in the NHL is sudden, unforgiving, and often decided by a single rush, and this one was no exception. Philadelphia had already survived the worst possible start and earned its way to an extra point by forcing the extra session. Columbus, though, had one more answer. The Blue Jackets found the overtime goal that ended the contest 4-3, denying Philadelphia the full comeback and taking both points back on the road.

The finish was cruel in the specific way late comebacks can be cruel: to climb from 3-0 down, tie a game in the final seconds, and then lose in overtime is a particular heartbreak. Philadelphia earned something by reaching overtime, but the story will be the win that got away, not the point salvaged.

For Columbus, the win taught two lessons. The Blue Jackets showed what they can do when their attack clicks, and how quickly a comfortable lead can disappear when intensity drops and the opposition starts winning the small battles of the second and third periods. This one felt like two different games stitched together.

What it means

This was the first of four meetings between the two Metropolitan Division rivals this season, and it already feels like a series worth watching. Philadelphia head coach Rick Tocchet had warned that his team could not afford to be casual after building early leads in previous games, and on Tuesday night his side never even got the chance to be casual. Instead, the Flyers spent the night chasing, and the chase very nearly worked.

Context matters too. Philadelphia was short-handed, with Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett still out, while Cam York returned after missing eight games and Rasmus Ristolainen remained out with a hand injury. None of that alone explains a three-goal first period, but it helps explain why the Flyers' margin for error was so thin, and why the comeback, even in defeat, said something about the group's resolve.

For Columbus, the road win can steady a season. Winning in a hostile building after nearly surrendering a three-goal lead tests a team's nerve in a way a comfortable win never does. The Blue Jackets passed that test, just barely, and will take the two points knowing the next meeting will come with a score to settle.

The evening edition previewed this fixture as a Metropolitan Division test. The result delivered on that billing and then some: a 4-3 overtime win for Columbus, a furious Philadelphia comeback that fell one goal short, and a rivalry that already has its first chapter written.