The Flyers are coming off a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. Even without Sidney Crosby, the Pens made it look easy against the Flyers by playing sound defensively. The Flyers, on the other hand, played really bad defensively and left Carter Hart out to dry countless times. Hart made a few really good stops on high-quality scoring chances but received absolutely no help defensively.
There are not many positives to take away from a loss like that, but Joel Farabee has continued his breakout season by scoring both Flyers’ goals. The 21-year-old has proven that he can be a force in the NHL. In 19 games this season, Farabee has 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points. Farabee is second on the team in points and continues to score at a high clip. Beezer, as he is called by his teammates, has scored on 20% of his shots this season. Not only has he shot the puck better, but he has improved his game so much and has now become one of the Flyers’ do-it-all guys. He has been moved up to the top powerplay, plays on the top line with Sean Couturier and James van Riemsdyk, and has added penalty killing to his responsibilities on the ice.
Joel Farabee scored 21 points as a rookie before the pause in the 2019-20 season. He scored eight goals to go with 13 assists in 52 games. Not only has Farabee has already scored more goals than he did last season, and will most likely blow by his point total in less than half the games this season. For Farabee, the skill has always been there. His shot has always been reliable, and he is able to move the puck and creates plays with his excellent vision. What might separate him this season from last is his work ethic. Farabee is known as an extremely hard worker and a player that wants to be the best. His teammates have taken notice of his work too. After the game against the Islanders when he scored a hat trick, Kevin Hayes said that he thought it would come sooner. He also mentions how hard Farabee works in practice and how it was only a matter of time before it came.
Farabee has also undoubtedly been helped by playing alongside Coots and JvR. Couturier is one of the best centers in hockey, and JvR is off to the best start in his career. By the end of the season, JvR could be in the Hart conversation (if it weren’t for those other guys in Chicago, Edmonton, and Toronto). Still, van Riemsdyk, Couturier, and Farabee have really proven to be one of the most dangerous lines in hockey. They might not get the recognition of Boston’s Marchand, Bergeron, and Pastrnak or Colorado’s Rantanen, Mackinnon, and Landeskog, but they are just as effective and equally as dangerous.
Finally, the defensive part of Farabee’s game has gone relatively unnoticed this season. He has been paired with Sean Couturier, the reigning Frank J. Selke trophy winner as the best defensive forward in the NHL, on the top penalty kill pair. The Flyers have been looking for years for someone to step up and fill that role. They finally have their guy. Farabee is a +14 in his NHL career this far (71 games), and is a +8 this year. +/- might not be a great stat to go by, but when you do as much as Joel Farabee does for this Flyers’ team, it is impressive.
The young Farabee’s progression has been one of the main reasons the Flyers have won 11 games so far. Without his four point game in the opener or his hat trick against the Islanders, the Flyers do not win either of those games. The second year player has changed a lot this season including his jersey number, but these changes are helping the Flyers be a better team. On pace for 43 goals (assuming it were an 82 game season), the Flyers may have found their next great sniper.
