Hayes, Farabee each scores twice in Flyers win against Avalanche

PHILADELPHIA -- Kevin Hayes and Joel Farabee each scored two goals for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 6-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

Defenseman Matt Niskanen had a goal and an assist, and Sean Couturier had three assists for Philadelphia (28-17-7), which was coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday and is 3-0-1 in its past four games. Alex Lyon made 28 saves for his first NHL win this season in his second start.
"It's great we found a way to win," forward James van Riemsdyk said. "Scored some timely goals. With how the other teams were doing tonight that we're competing with in the standings, it's obviously a huge win for us tonight."
WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Flyers highlights]
Andre Burakovsky and Nikita Zadorov each had a goal and an assist for Colorado (28-16-6), which lost for the first time in four games. Philipp Grubauer allowed five goals on 27 shots for the Avalanche, who played their first game since Jan. 20, following their League-mandated five-day schedule break after the 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Game.
"Think we had a really good first period, could have been up 3-0 early, had some chances," Colorado forward Mikko Rantanen said. "Even in the second, created a lot. ... Don't think we had a horrible game. We had a chance to win. I think we played better than them, but we just couldn't find the win."
Farabee gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead at 3:05 of the second period, and he scored again to make it 4-2 at 7:32 of the third. The rookie forward has six points (four goals, two assists) during a five-game point streak since he was a healthy scratch against the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 15.

"Definitely, it's a different look watching up top," Farabee said of being scratched. "Just a reset button for me. Feeling good right now. Obviously playing with two really good linemates (Couturier and Jakub Voracek), that tends to help."
Coach Alain Vigneault said he was confident Farabee would respond the right way.
"Ever since he sat out that game, he seems like he's got more energy, more jump, makes better plays," Vigneault said. "And he's come back from the (five-day schedule) break, which I think for him was probably very beneficial, rested and excited, and you saw tonight in his game, he was one of the players that I'm really happy with. Back-to-back games, solid with the puck, solid without the puck."
After Farabee's second goal, Burakovsky scored off the rebound of a Zadorov slap shot to get the Avalanche within 4-3 at 9:09.

Hayes beat Grubauer for his second goal of the night with a wrist shot on a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush to make it 5-3 with 3:27 left.
Scott Laughton scored into an empty net from the Flyers zone with 45 seconds remaining for the 6-3 final.
Niskanen gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 13:45 of the first, and Hayes made it 2-0 with a power-play goal with six seconds remaining in the period.
Zadorov scored for Colorado to make it 2-1 at 2:01 of the second.
After Farabee's first goal, Rantanen scored on the power play for the Avalanche to make it 3-2 at 4:16 of the second.

They said it

"We had the chances, we played a pretty decent game. If we had a little more puck luck, it would have been different." -- Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
"They were the better team in the first, and they were down 2-0. Thought as the game went on, we were a lot better, we settled in and got back to our game. Overall, getting three out of four points coming off the break, it's definitely positive." -- Flyers forward Kevin Hayes

Need to know

Burakovsky has three goals and four assists during a four-game point streak. ... Zadorov has one goal and four assists during a three-game point streak. ... Couturier has 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) in the past 12 games.

What's next

Avalanche: At the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, ALT, NHL.TV)
Flyers: At the Detroit Red Wings on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, NBCSP+, NHL.TV)