Flyers 6, Blue Jackets 0
PHILADELPHIA -- Radko Gudas snapped a 65-game goal drought by scoring two and compiling four points in the Philadelphia Flyers' 6-0 drubbing of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Gudas, a stocky, hard-hitting defenseman not known for offense, ignited and punctuated Philadelphia's explosion while setting career highs in goals and points in a game as fans chanted his name during the third period.
The Flyers (30-23-11) have won four of five during their six-game homestand and are back to within three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Eastern Conference's final wild-card spot.
The Blue Jackets (27-31-8), who were 9-1-0 in the last 10 games against the Flyers, suffered their first loss to Philadelphia this season in three meetings.
The Flyers took a 4-0 lead into the third period and added to it with a goal from Nick Cousins, and Gudas capped his career night with his second goal of the game.
Flyers goaltender Steve Mason, making his first start since Feb. 20 as Philadelphia rode the hot hand of Michal Neuvirth, stopped 19 shots.
The Blue Jackets, playing the second game of a back-to-back set, went with Curtis McElhinney in net for his first game since Feb. 23. He was lit up for six goals on 36 shots.
Coming off its first shutout loss since Nov. 21, Philadelphia received a spark from an unlikely source in Gudas.
Gudas had not scored a goal since Dec. 4, 2014, and owned just six points in 57 games this season, but during the first period he set up the Flyers' first goal and delivered the second to propel Philadelphia to a 2-0 lead.
Gudas helped make it 1-0 with a redirection past McElhinney 3:40 into the game.
Gudas then put McElhinney on the blooper reel at 11:45 when he took a shot from center ice that somehow found its way past the Columbus goalie.
Remarkably, Gudas nearly outshot the Blue Jackets in the opening period, totaling four of Philadelphia's 17 to Columbus' six.
In the second period, the Flyers doubled their lead in 10 seconds.
Gagner ripped a slap shot top shelf from the circle at 17:13, assisted by Andrew MacDonald and Gudas, giving him his first three-point game of his career.
Right out of the faceoff, Claude Giroux connected on a bouncing pass from Wayne Simmonds as Philadelphia seized complete control at the second intermission.
NOTES: Blue Jackets LW Brandon Saad was out because an upper-body injury he suffered in Friday's 6-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The 2015-16 All-Star, who is considered day to day, entered Saturday leading Columbus in goals with 24. ... Flyers C Brayden Schenn played despite being a game-time decision. The 24-year-old appeared to hit his head on the ice during a third-period scuffle Thursday in Philadelphia's 4-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Before Saturday, Schenn had already set a career high in goals with 21. ... Blue Jackets LW Scott Hartnell faced his former team for the eighth time since being traded from Philadelphia to Columbus during the summer before the 2014-15 season. C R.J. Umberger, who the Flyers acquired in the deal, was a healthy scratch for the sixth straight game and has appeared in just 38 of the team's 64 games this season. ... Flyers D Brandon Manning returned to the lineup after sitting the previous two games as a healthy scratch. He replaced D Evgeny Medvedev.