Philadelphia Flyers 4 – Washington Capitals 2
Scoring
1st: 1:44, Joel Farabee (Kevin Hayes). 16:19, Daniel Sprong (Anthony Mantha).
2nd: 4:19, Wade Allison (Oskar Lindblom, Justin Braun). 14:45, Wade Allison (Philippe Myers, James van Riemsdyk). 18:51, TJ Oshie (Brenden Dillon, Lars Eller).
3rd: 19:29, Sean Couturier (James van Riemsdyk, Brian Elliott).
Recap
The Flyers got off to a solid start and make quick work of picking up the first goal of the same. Inside the first three minutes, we saw Oskar Lindblom hit the post with a shot, the puck end up in the crease and then bounce off a couple of defenders before ultimately being pushed in by Vitek Vanacek. Joel Farabee got credit for the goal, though. Because why not.
The Capitals nearly got one back just about two minutes later, on a similar scrambly type of play in the crease, but the goal was waved off because Daniel Sprong kicked it in.
The Flyers played, on the whole, a solid nearly rest of the period. But it only took one bad breakdown for the Capitals to, well, capitalize. Here, Ivan Provorov turned the puck right over to Anthony Mantha, who passed it up to Sprong parked right in front of Brian Elliott for the quick shot. Elliott didn’t stand a chance.
It was a relatively sleepy start to the second period, as the Flyers got a power play to work with but really couldn’t do a whole lot with it. But then again, we don’t really know what else we were expecting.
But if we were looking for a little bit more excitement, well, it was on the way. And instead of me giving you a whole breakdown, just watch this goal by Wade Allison for yourself. Man, what a shot.
A bounce play! Wade Allison, what a shot! pic.twitter.com/zDov1bGO7y
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) May 8, 2021
Allison would pick up a second goal later in the period to pull the Flyers ahead by two, but the Capitals weren’t going to go away quietly. With just over a minute left in the period, a breakdown in front opened up TJ Oshie for a shot, and the Capitals pulled themselves back within one.
The third period passed us by at pretty close to warp speed, with very few whistles and a few non-calls keeping things moving along quite well. Both sides traded a couple of really nice chances, but no one could seem to cash in on anything. With time ticking down to the last five minutes, the Capitals really kicked things up a notch, and the Flyers were holding on for dear life. The Flyers were able to maintain possession for a bit with about two minutes to go, but down to around a minute and a half, the Capitals got the goalie pulled to get the extra attacker out there.
And if we’re looking for some good news, it’s that the Flyers were able to hold on, bend and not break, and keep things locked down until they ultimately got a clear, the puck to Sean Couturier, and he sent it down for the empty netter. The bad news is that Allison didn’t see the ice in that final minute to get a shot at the empty netter for the hat trick. So the Flyers are cowards, we’ve learned.
Anyway, the Flyers won this one! Wow!
Final thoughts
This game was… fun? Can we say that? Things have been pretty rough here, of late, particularly since the Flyers were officially eliminated from playoff contention, but they really showed some life in this one, and it was, if nothing else encouraging to see. The team keeps preaching this idea that there’s no quit in their group, and this game sure went a long way to prove that point.
And, of course, the big news of the night: Cam York’s debut! It wasn’t an absolutely perfect, lights out game, but it was a really solid one, and he came as advertised. He was calm and poised—and showed no signs of the nerves that cropped up in his AHL debut—and was really steady in his playmaking. He skated well and proved elusive against defenders, his passing was quietly very solid, and he showed a willingness to activate on the rush when given the space to do so. In short, he looked like he belonged, and all of the elements of his game that make him effective were clicking already.
Player of the game
It’s gotta be Wade Allison, right? Alain Vigneault may have said that he’s not giving these last few games a ton of weight, but Allison’s still playing for a permanent role with this team next season, and he’s been playing pretty remarkably well recently. He added two goals to his total and brought a whole lot of energy tonight, to boot. He’s been a real revelation here, and he just keeps on rolling.
