In the second game of a back-to-back, the Flyers returned home to face the Colorado Avalanche. With an overtime loss to the Penguins the night before, the Flyers are desperate for points as the playoff race gets even tighter in the Metro.
With Carter Hart still sidelined with an abdominal injury, Alex Lyon stepped in to give Brian Elliott some relief. He was steady in net, helping the Flyers to a 6-3 win with 28 saves on 31 Colorado shots.
The first period was all Philadelphia on the scoreboard. Matt Niskanen opened the scoring with a goal thirteen minutes into the period. Kevin Hayes scored his first of the night in the final minute of the first period, a rare power-play goal for the Flyers, giving them a two-goal lead going into the second.
The Flyers were strong in the second, controlling play more than the first, but scoring was more back and forth from the start of the period. Two minutes in, Nikita Zadorov cut the Flyers lead in half. It didn’t take long for Joel Farabee to push the lead to 2 again, with an impressive pass from Sean Couturier.
Nicholas Aube-Kubel was sent to the box for hooking against Samuel Girard and Mikko Rantanen took advantage of the power play, bringing the Avs within one goal in no time. The rest of the period was full of back and forth penalties and defensive lockdowns on both sides. The second ended with Philippe Myers coming out of the box after serving a penalty and going on a breakaway, drawing a slashing penalty on Samuel Girard, giving the Flyers a power play to start the third. (They did not score on the power play in the third.)
Couturier and Farabee connected for another goal giving the Flyers yet another two-goal lead, which was countered by an Andre Burakovsky goal 2 minutes later.
It was a short-handed goal from Kevin Hayes that effectively ended the Avalanche’s chances at the game. With a final empty-net goal from Scott Laughton, the Flyers took two crucial points away from the weekend.
Cage Cleaning:
- Alex Lyon was a major factor in the Flyers win, stopping 28 of 31 shots on net for a .903 save percentage.
- Tonight was only the second time this season that the Flyers had two players with multiple goals. Kevin Hayes and Joel Farabee both scored two.
- Despite the win, the Flyers still sit just outside of a wildcard spot, tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Columbus Blue Jackets with 63 points.
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