Allison’s 2 Goals Pace Flyers to Win Over Capitals

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

In the late stages of a season of disappointment for the Flyers, any emerging performances can set the stage for next season. One young player continued a season of tremendous growth. Another newcomer had his biggest game to date.

Joel Farabee scored his team-leading 18th goal of the season and Wade Allison scored a pair of goals as the Flyers defeated the Capitals, 4-2, on Friday night.

It didn't take long for the Flyers to cash in on an opportunity. Just 1:44 into the game, Farabee picked up his 18th goal of the season, batting a puck back through the crease before it deflected in off a Capital to make it 1-0.

Late in the period, the Capitals tied it up off a Flyers turnover. Ivan Provorov gave the puck away off a face-off to Anthony Mantha. He set up Daniel Sprong from the slot to tie things up at one with 3:41 remaining.

Through 20 minutes, shots were also even at eight apiece.

The Flyers got an early power play in the second period, but could not score. Not long after, they did re-gain the lead.

Off a set play, Oskar Lindblom dumped the puck into the corner and it bounced back out for Allison, who released a one-timer and beat Vitek Vanecek to make it 2-1 at 4:19. 

The Flyers got another goal on a delayed penalty call at 14:45 to take a 3-1 lead. Phil Myers carried behind the Washington net and attempted a wrap-around. The puck hopped in the air and Allison batted it in for his second goal of the game and fourth of the season.

But Washington cut the lead back to one with 1:09 remaining in the period. A point shot by Brendan Dillon was deflected by T.J. Oshie for his 22nd goal of the season to make it 3-2.

Through two periods, Washington had a 20-19 lead in shots.

The third period moved quickly with very few stoppages. With under a minute to play, the Flyers iced the game with an empty-net goal by Sean Couturier, which happened to be assisted by goalie Brian Elliott, who made 28 saves in the win. Vanecek made 25 saves on 28 shots in the loss.

In addition to Allison's two-goal game, James van Riemsdyk had a pair of assists. Cam York also had one shot on goal, one blocked shot, and played 20:59 in his NHL debut.

The Flyers and Capitals meet for the final time this season on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Joel Farabee (18) (Kevin Hayes) 1:44
• WSH Daniel Sprong (13) (Anthony Mantha) 16:19

2nd Period

• PHI Wade Allison (3) (Oskar Lindblom, Justin Braun) 4:19
• PHI Allison (4) (Phil Myers, James van Riemsdyk) 14:45
• WSH T.J. Oshie (22) (Brendan Dillon, Lars Eller) 18:51

3rd Period

• PHI Sean Couturier (17) EN (van Riemsdyk, Brian Elliott) 19:29

Game Statistics