Joel Farabee could not be this forever. The 24-year-old winger was not the same player we have come to know and carve out high aspirations in our collective mind for, through the first half of this Philadelphia Flyers season. Just last year, we were gifted a first-line-winger-esque start to his campaign and then it just slowly faded into a 50-point season, which was still a career high.
It was natural to think that he could maybe linearly progress into being someone who scored even more goals and earned more points, but shrunk into a shell of what we have seen. And that shrinking earned him a three-game stint as a healthy scratch by the hands of head coach John Tortorella.
During his time out, the Flyers demolished Cutter Gauthier and his Anaheim Ducks, defeated the reigning Stanley Cup champions, and then lost in a shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Farabee quickly shoved his way back into the lineup, on a line with Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov, and has excelled in the three games since he has returned.
Farabee has one goal and three assists in the three games in his return — which have all been Flyers wins, by the way — and he is crediting this electric return on just sitting down and watching some tape while off the ice.
“Yeah, I think just being out and watching my previous games before that, just something I wanted to focus on and what I talked with Danny about is just getting on the inside,” Farabee said after Tuesday’s win over the Red Wings. “Trying to make plays through the middle and not just staying on the perimeter. I’m not going out there and doing anything crazy different, but just the idea of when I don’t have the puck, trying to get to the net, trying to get to the inside. And, you know, got a couple lucky bounces.
“There were a couple plays at their blue line where I felt comfortable making a play instead of chipping in and chasing it. … I feel like I have a bit more confidence to make that play right now.”
That confidence was on full display when he scored the opening goal against the Red Wings Tuesday night.
Philadelphia goal!
Scored by Joel Farabee with 14:39 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov.
Philadelphia: 1
Detroit: 0#DETvsPHI #LetsGoFlyers #LGRW pic.twitter.com/Il2CVDSAe6— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 22, 2025
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Farabee was an absolute hound on the puck — never truly giving up on the play and with a shimmy through the slot and a quick confidence-ridden backhand, he got his first goal since Dec. 29 and it gave us an overall pause. Maybe, just maybe Farabee is truly back.
And it hasn’t just been the four points in three games that has signified a strong return for the young winger, but the Flyers are simply dominating the opposition when he is on the ice. At 5-on-5, the Flyers have scored four goals with Farabee on the ice in the three games back and has had zero scored against. He has been on the ice for 24 shots for, 10 against; 47 shot attempts for and 33 against; and 3.05 expected goals and a miniscule 0.67 against. And maybe above all, the one stat we could point to and see just how his confidence is getting represented on the statsheet: With Farabee on the ice the Flyers have had 13 high-danger attempts at 5-on-5 and the opponent has had zero. In the three games, no opponent has been able to get a shot attempt off in a high-danger area when Farabee has been on the ice. It is one-way traffic, according to our pals at Natural Stat Trick.
That is dominance.
If this team wants to even think about coming close to the playoffs — and the Flyers are just two points behind the second Wild Card spot, along with several other teams — they will need every single young forward chugging along. Farabee, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, and Morgan Frost will need to all be playing with the confidence that Joel is playing with right now.
Farabee can check that box already and will just need to keep a somewhat steady level of play for the remaining 34 games on the Flyers’ schedule.