COLUMBUS, Ohio – Rookie Jeff Carter scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period and Philadelphia killed a long two-man power play in the second period in the Flyers’ 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

Peter Forsberg, who has 18 points in 10 career games against Columbus, also scored for the Flyers, and Sami Kapanen added an empty-net goal with 8 seconds remaining. Philadelphia has won five of its last seven and is 3-0-3 overall against Columbus.

Jan Hrdina scored a power-goal for the Blue Jackets, who had won four of their last six games.

Carter gave Philadelphia a 2-1 lead early in the second period, pushing in a loose puck for his eighth goal of the season.

Philadelphia, which entered with the league’s worst penalty kill, stood the test against Columbus’ power play, ranked last, during the period. The Flyers killed six power plays, including a two-man advantage for 3:02.

During one stretch of a 1:05 two-man advantage, Columbus’ Sergei Federov hit the right post and goalie Robert Esche, playing his first game since missing four with a groin injury, stopped Nikolai Zherdev’s close-range attempt. Moments later, Esche made a lunging toe save on Geoff Platt’s shot from near the far post.

Hrdina, positioned in front of Esche, scored at 5:42 of the first opening period, redirecting Duvie Wescott’s pass from the right point. The point was Hrdina’s sixth in six games after he had only two in his first 21 games.

Forsberg responded for the Flyers just over a minute later with an individual effort. He stripped the puck from Jaroslav Balastik at the blue line, beat Wescott at the left circle and jammed his own rebound past Marc Denis for his 10th goal. Forsberg has three points in two games since missing six with a groin injury.

Esche finished with 23 saves, and Denis made 28 saves.

Notes: Before the game, Fedorov said he won’t play for Russia in the Turin Olympics. Fedorov, a six-time NHL All-Star who turned 36 on Tuesday, said he needed the time to recuperate from a nagging injury and to adapt to his new team. … The Blue Jackets are 4-8 since Federov was acquired Nov. 15 in a trade with Anaheim. They were 5-13 before his arrival. … Columbus, the league’s lowest- scoring team, has not scored more than two goals in a period and four goals in a game. … Columbus’ Rick Nash, out since Nov. 3 with a sprained knee, has been skating with the team and is expected back in about a week. … The game was the Flyers’ second without the high-scoring Simon Gagne, expected to miss two weeks with a groin injury.

AP-ES-12-13-05 2203EST