Columbus Blue Jackets

Claude Giroux became the Flyers all-time leader in power-play assists with 235, getting the record-breaker on a Jake Voracek power-play goal to cap the scoring in a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Flyers currently hold the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with 71 points. That is just one point behind the opponent for the next two games, the Columbus Blue Jackets, who technically hold the first wildcard spot with 72 points though they are tied for third in the division with the Islanders.

The Flyers entered the Thanksgiving holiday on a high note, securing a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets behind stellar play from Brian Elliott in the third period.

The Flyers look to go into a brief break for Thanksgiving on a high note, traveling to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.

It wasn't a five-goal rally from down 4-0, but the Flyers' third-period performance, scoring five goals in the final 10 minutes of the game, helped change the course in a game that would have had a very different result a year ago.

Kevin Hayes forced a turnover and scored on a breakaway to give the Flyers a 5-4 lead with 5:36 remaining in the third. An empty-net goal and power-play goal in the final minute followed, and the Flyers scored five goals in the third period to claim a 7-4 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center for their third straight win.

The Flyers get back to Eastern Conference play, opening a stretch of 14 straight games against Eastern Conference opponents starting with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Erasing a five-point deficit and at least one seven-point deficit is not favorable or likely for the Flyers, especially with just 15 games to play in the regular season, but for now, there is a path to do it.

If the Flyers did everything they could to eliminate chances in front of Carter Hart in the first two games of his career, they didn't do him any favors in his third game. Hart was left in difficult position, needing to recover from the shortcomings the Flyers had early in the season, in a 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Flyers did salvage a point out of this game against the much superior Columbus Blue Jackets, but it wasn't the type of performance that will keep the new GM from action.