COLUMBUS, Ohio _ To call Nationwide Arena the Flyers' house of horrors is an understatement.
In the last 14 times they had played there entering Wednesday, they had left with a loss in 13 of those games _ and hadn't won in regulation in Columbus since 2005.
The trend didn't continue on Thanksgiving Eve.
Claude Giroux's power-play goal late in the second period snapped a 2-2 tie and Brian Elliott finished with 28 saves as the Flyers defeated the Blue Jackets, 3-2, at Nationwide Arena.
Elliott made 15 third-period stops, none bigger than point-blank saves on Josh Anderson with 6:42 remaining and Sonny Milano with 3:15 to go.
The Flyers have collected points in 12 of their last 14 games.
The Flyers' power play looked futile in their first four chances, but finally capitalized on its fifth attempt of the night, taking a 3-2 lead on Giroux's goal.
Taking a pass from Ivan Provorov, Giroux whipped a shot from the left circle _ his old power-play office before moving to the right side in a lot of games this season _ to put the Flyers ahead with 3:25 left in the second period. James van Riemsdyk set a screen in front of goalie Joonas Korpisalo.
Earlier in the second period, Joel Farabee, from near the goal line next to the right wall, patiently waited for Scott Laughton to drive the net before firing a goal-mouth pass that the left winger knocked into the net. It was Laughton's first goal of the season and ended a 24-game drought that started last March, knotting the score at 2-2 with 16:41 remaining in the second.
"It feels nice, coming back from an injury and everything that's kind of happened this year," said Laughton, who missed 13 games this season because of a broken finger. " ... It was my third game back, so I'm starting to get my legs underneath me and feeling better. It was a great play by Farabs (Farabee) and I was able to put it in the back of the net."
The Flyers' power play was anemic during a first period in which they fell into a 2-1 hole. They had all three power plays in the period and managed a total of just two shots in those six minutes.
On their third power play, the Flyers failed to get off a shot and Columbus had four clears.
Columbus took a 1-0 lead as captain Nick Foligno, left uncovered in front, scored on a rebound with 15:09 left in the first. It was just his second goal of the season and first in 18 games. Foligno has 16th career goals against the Flyers, the most he has against any team.
The Blue Jackets have scored first in their last nine games.
The Flyers, shortly after their third straight futile power play of the night, knotted the score at 1-1 by getting a goal from fourth-line right winger Tyler Pitlick. Using a backhander, Pitlick chipped a nine-foot shot past Korpisalo with 1:22 left in the first.
Just 46 seconds later, a neutral-zone turnover by Kevin Hayes led to a Columbus goal as defenseman Seth Jones fired a right-circle shot past a screened Brian Elliott with 36 seconds to go in the period. Jones converted a slick pass from Gustav Nyquist, who was behind the net.
Columbus, which lost stars Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene to free agency in the offseason, had won four of its last five games before Wednesday.
The Blue Jackets are an old-school team that tries to win low-scoring games.
"They play hard, they defend, they block shots. Just like all of Torts' teams," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said before the game, referring to Columbus coach John Tortorella by his nickname. "We're going to have to execute along the wall. We showed some of that to our players (on video) this morning."
