Johnson's OT Snap Shot Saves CBJ After Philly's Stunning Third-Period Comeback
Columbus built a 3-0 lead inside the first 14 minutes, watched Philadelphia erase every bit of it in the third period, then won it in overtime anyway. Kent Johnson scored the winner at 2:22 of OT — his second goal of the night — to give the Blue Jackets a 4-3 road victory on October 27, 2026.
The first period was a Columbus demolition job. Adam Fantilli opened the scoring at 10:58 with a wrist shot, assisted by Kent Johnson and Jake Christiansen, shifting the margin from even to 1-0. Less than two minutes later, at 12:54, Johnson himself deflected one home off assists from Zach Werenski and Valeri Nichushkin to make it 2-0. Then, at 13:44 — just 50 seconds after that — Denton Mateychuk snapped one in off helpers from Mathieu Olivier and Matthew Knies. Three goals in under three minutes of game time. Dan Vladar finished the night with 11 saves on 15 shots faced, and the story of that first period appears to be that Philadelphia's goaltending simply couldn't hold the fort when Columbus came in waves.
Philadelphia spent two periods clawing back. Noah Cates got the Flyers on the board at 9:59 of the second with a poke goal, assisted by Porter Martone and Oliver Bonk, making it 3-1. The third period is where this game turned genuinely uncomfortable for Columbus. Trevor Zegras wired a wrist shot past Cam Talbot at 15:04 — assisted by Christian Dvorak and Travis Sanheim — to cut it to 3-2. Then, with just 11 seconds left in regulation, Jamie Drysdale deflected one home off assists from Tyson Foerster and Zegras to tie it at 3-3. That sequence looks like one of the more dramatic late collapses a team can suffer without actually losing in regulation — and Philadelphia had every reason to believe the momentum had fully flipped.
It hadn't. In overtime, Johnson took a snap shot at 2:22, set up by Fantilli and Werenski, and that was the game. Johnson finished with 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points. Fantilli added 1 goal and 1 assist. Werenski quietly drove play with 2 assists. On the other side, Zegras finished with 1 goal and 1 assist for Philadelphia, but his team couldn't protect the equalizer long enough. Cam Talbot made 28 saves on 31 shots to earn the win — a workmanlike performance that looks even more valuable given how tight the third period became. Columbus came to Philadelphia, nearly gave it away, and took two points regardless. That's the kind of resilience that's hard to manufacture.