Wade Allison, Joel Farabee, Brian Elliott spark Flyers to 4-2 win and damage Capitals’ first-place chances
Allison had the first two-goal game of his young career and Farabee was credited with his team-leading 18th tally.
Two young wingers who should play huge roles in the Flyers’ future -- Wade Allison and Joel Farabee -- helped change the East Division race Friday night at Capital One Arena.
Allison scored a pair of goals and Farabee was credited with his team-leading 18th tally as the Flyers defeated Washington, 4-2, and damaged the Capitals’ chances of winning the East Division title.
The Caps remained two points behind first-place Pittsburgh in the division. The Penguins have one game left (Buffalo), while Washington has two (Flyers, Boston). The Caps can still win the title with two regulation victories.
“There’s no doubt that discipline was a big key tonight. Discipline in the way we played, and discipline in staying out of the penalty box,” said coach Alain Vigneault, whose team committed just one penalty.
» READ MORE: Wade Allison playing well for Flyers, but real test will be in meaningful games, coach says
Brian Elliott (28 saves) robbed Conor Sheary from the doorstep with 8:30 left in regulation, allowing the Flyers to maintain their 3-2 lead. He also made a key late stop on John Carlson with under a minute to play.
Sean Couturier iced the win with an empty-net goal.
“I just thought we were on our heels too much,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. “We were reacting to them.”
Washington was missing three key players: Alex Ovechkin, who has eight goals against the Flyers this season; Evgeny Kuznetsov; and Justin Schultz.
The Flyers defeated the Caps in their first meeting this year, 7-4, but then lost five in a row to Washington.
One of the best parts of the Flyers’ sad-sack season has been the emergence of second-year winger Farabee.
“When we started last year, he wasn’t here. Went down to the minors, came back up, progressed, and became an effective player,” Vigneault said before the game. “This year, his progression has continued, and that’s a very positive sign.”
Farabee scored his 18th goal, which tops the team and is 10 more than he tallied last year, to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead after just 1:44. He could become the second-youngest player to ever lead the Flyers in goals. A guy named Eric Lindros was the youngest as he scored 44 goals in 1993-94,when he was 21 years old and 45 days on the last day of the season.
Farabee, who has one more goal than Couturier, will be 21 years and 74 days on the last day of the season Monday.
“What Joel has is good hockey sense,” Vigneault said. “Hockey sense is an attribute that you have to have as a player in today’s game, and his hockey IQ is very good.”
In a wild scramble in front after Kevin Hayes hit the crossbar with a shot, Farabee scored after the puck deflected off his skate and off a Capitals defender and past goalie Vitek Vanecek. Farabee is on a 27-goal pace if this were an 82-game season.
The Caps knotted the score at 1 as Ivan Provorov turned the puck over behind the net to Anthony Mantha, who fed Daniel Sprong for a one-timer from the high slot with 3:41 left in the opening period.
The Flyers regained the lead, at 2-1, as Allison scored his third goal in 12 games, rifling a right-circle shot into the net after taking Oskar Lindblom’s pass off the boards. Allison said it was a designed play “we work on in practice.”
Cam York, 20, a defenseman who made his NHL debut for the Flyers, was on the ice for the goal. He quarterbacked the power play and looked composed and smooth in all situations.
“This is the first of a long career,” Allison said of York, who played 20:59. “You could tell from tonight he’s a really special player.”
York, whose parents traveled from California to be at the game, said playing alongside Justin Braun was beneficial.
“Having a veteran next to me was huge,” said York after becoming the sixth Flyer to make his NHL debut this season. “He’s a really good communicator, letting me know what plays can be made out there. He makes the game pretty easy for me.”
Allison increased the lead to 3-1 with a backhanded tip-in with 5:15 to go in the second, but T.J. Oshie (22nd goal) made it 3-2 on a deflected goal of his own, which came with 69 seconds remaining in the stanza.
“He did what guys who score goals do,” Vigneault said of Allison. “He went to the front of the net and stopped and stayed there.”