Patrick, Mrazek carry streaking Flyers to win

PHILADELPHIA » Nolan Patrick scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and Petr Mrazek made 19 saves in his Philadelphia debut, leading the streaking Flyers to a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist and Shayne Gostisbehere added two assists for the Flyers, who won their fourth straight game while improving to 8-0-2 in the last 10. The Flyers (32-19-10) began play comfortably in a playoff position, three points behind first-place Washington and two back of Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Division.

Artemi Panarin scored for Columbus (30-26-5), which entered Thursday clinging to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets were just one point ahead of idle Carolina and the Islanders, who played at Toronto.

Mrazek was acquired in a trade with Detroit on Monday night. Philadelphia needed a goalie after backup Michal Neuvirth went down with a lower-body injury on Sunday that will keep him out four to six weeks. Regular starter Brian Elliott already was out with a lower-body injury that will sideline him for five more weeks.

Mrazek won 72 games in six seasons with the Red Wings. He made a good shoulder save on David Savard three minutes in and three excellent stops in the second period, including short-handed chances by Alexander Wennberg and Matt Calvert. Mrazek wore red-and-white pads as he waited for new ones to arrive with Flyers colors, and he sported an allwhite goalie mask without any design.

Patrick scored on a power play with 10:11 remaining. It was his second straight game with a man-advantage goal since replacing injured Wayne Simmonds on the Flyers’ top line. Gostisbehere took the initial shot from the point and Patrick backhanded it home after goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped the drive from the point.