Flyers snap six-game skid with 2-1 win over Washington Capitals

For the first time since Feb. 1, the Flyers held onto a lead for 59 minutes and beat the Washington Capitals, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center to snap a six-game skid.

After their disappointing performance in a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Flyers struck quickly to start this game. In the span of 11 seconds, the referee dropped the puck, the clock started, Claude Giroux won the faceoff and shot the puck nto the Capitals goal.

Within 30 seconds, the Flyers were on the penalty kill. After killing it, their defense on special teams carried over to 5-on-5. The Flyers dominated the rest of the first period until they went on the penalty kill again after Zack MacEwen dropped the gloves with the Capitals’ Tom Wilson. They not only killed that penalty but gained momentum that resulted in a Cam Atkinson goal eight seconds after the Capitals’ power play ended.

It was the first time since before the All-Star break the Flyers had the lead at the end of the first period.

The Capitals came out with more pressure in the second period and got one back when Isaac Ratcliffe went to the penalty box and T.J. Oshie scored. The Flyers earned their first power play of the game a few minutes later. It turned into a 5-on-3, but unlike the Capitals, they couldn’t capitalize.

After a back-and-forth third, the Capitals pulled their goalie in the final minutes, but the Flyers shut it down thanks to goalie Carter Hart.

Interim coach Mike Yeo said the return of Patrick Brown, Derick Brassard, and Joel Farabee helped give the Flyers the final push they’d been needing to finish games.

“I would say just maybe it made us a bit of a deeper lineup where we’ve got shift after shift, guys that are going out there,” Yeo said.

“Again, I think that we can be better. We don’t want to be a team that just defends all night when we’re playing with the lead. We want to stay on the attack and extend that lead. But I think that the effort was very evident tonight.”

When asked about his captain and line partner, Atkinson said with a grin that Giroux had been “OK.” He said it seems like Giroux breaks some sort of record every other day and that he thinks he’s one of the best players he’s ever played with.

Atkinson, however, has been right up there with Giroux this season. Heading into the game, Atkinson was one point behind Giroux in the team scoring race. When Giroux scored right off the bat, Atkinson also earned a point for the primary assist, keeping the difference between them at one.

The assist broke a three-game drought for Atkinson. Eighteen minutes, 27 seconds later, Atkinson scored a goal of his own. That broke a streak of seven games without a goal and tied him with Giroux for 39 points this season.

“He’s a momentum changer,” Farabee said. “When he’s playing well, it definitely helps our team a lot.”

In his first game back from injury, Farabee provided energy on the penalty kill and to the first line. He was awarded a point for his secondary assist on Giroux’s goal and finished plus-one.

“He’s been off for quite some time, and I thought he jumped right back into it and had some big minutes and some good plays,” said Atkinson.

Before his return, Farabee said he didn’t think he’d be worried about getting hit, although that’s hard to test in practice. During warmups, he messed around with teammates, taking a hit from Rasmus Ristolainen. And once the puck dropped, he wasn’t shy about getting physical with the Capitals. Following the game, Farabee said he “felt pretty good.”

Farabee almost scored when he narrowly missed the Capitals’ empty net. It would have been the team’s fifth empty-net goal of the season.

Thirteen seconds after Garnet Hathaway laid a hit on Giroux, Ristolainen came in and made a statement hit, smashing Nicklas Backstrom into the boards. Ristolainen, who the Flyers traded for in an effort to bring more physicality to the lineup, has yet to drop the gloves but brings grit in other ways. He’s led the team all year with 153 hits, and he added seven more against the Capitals.

“He enjoys playing against that team,” Yeo said. “‘Cause obviously they’ve got some physical players and Risto, it doesn’t seem to take much to drag him into the fight.”

Ristolainen wasn’t just noticeable for his hits, although those were what will make the highlight reels. The team’s defensive play at the start of the game was significantly better than it has been, and he was a part of that. While things started to break down as the game wore on, Ristolainen’s play remained steady. He made good passes to move the puck out of the defensive zone and recorded an assist. In the final seconds after the Capitals pulled their goalie, Ristolainen blocked a shot and helped clear the puck.

“There were three, four instances where they’ve got pressure in our zone,” Yeo said. “They’ve got control and he’s able to go in and just kill the play. You can talk about positioning all you want, but you’ve got to kill plays and you’ve got to be physical to get them to stop, to separate them from the puck and I thought that he was huge tonight.”

» READ MORE: Flyers Charities donates $400K to Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation to build hockey rink in Kensington

The Flyers have an off day and a practice day before they host the Edmonton Oilers (28-20-3) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.