PHILADELPHIA — Before longtime Flyers captain Claude Giroux departed via trade to the Florida Panthers, he told 22-year-old winger Joel Farabee that he would break all of his records one day.
Those were strong words from Giroux, who is second all-time in franchise history in points (900) and first in power-play points (339) and overtime goals (11).
In Giroux’s absence, Farabee continued the uphill trek toward besting those marks on Sunday against the New York Islanders at the Wells Fargo Center. Farabee dazzled through three periods, factoring in on two of the Flyers’ goals in their 2-1 victory over the Islanders.
His forechecking efforts in the first period helped keep the puck in the Flyers’ possession in the Islanders’ zone, which led to center Kevin Hayes’ first goal of the afternoon to tie the game at 1. In the second period on the power play, Farabee made a pass to Hayes from his knees to set up Hayes’ second goal. Winger Travis Konecny also registered assists on both of Hayes’ goals.
Farabee now has five points in his last four games, while the Flyers have five in their last four with wins over the Islanders and the Nashville Predators and an overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Trying to Tip the scale
In his Flyers debut, winger Owen Tippett played with some jump on the third line alongside center Morgan Frost and winger Oskar Lindblom. Less than five minutes into the first period, Tippett sent the Flyers to the power play after drawing a hooking call against Cizikas. Tippett played on the Flyers’ second power-play unit with Cam York, Travis Konecny, Hayes, and Farabee.
Tippett had a scoring opportunity halfway through the first period — a backhander that wouldn’t go past Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin. Later in the period, Tippett forced a turnover against center Anders Lee in the neutral zone to help the Flyers get back on the attack. In the second period, Tippett’s shot from the top of the right faceoff circle hit the far post and later, another shot off of a feed from Ivan Provorov went wide. Tippett finished the afternoon with two shots on goal.
Self-inflicted wounds
The Flyers and the Islanders drew even in high-danger scoring chances with three apiece in the first period per Natural Stat Trick. However, the Flyers put themselves in a dangerous situation on a turnover and the Islanders pounced to take an early lead.
After forward Kieffer Bellows’s shot on goal from the low slot was blocked up front, Flyers center Patrick Brown attempted to clear the zone up the middle. But Brown flipped the puck directly to forward Casey Cizikas at the point. Cizikas ripped a slap shot, which deflected off Brown’s stick and into the Flyers’ goal to put the Islanders up, 1-0. However, the Flyers rebounded well and cut down on their mistakes in the second and third periods.
No fog around Hayes
After rehabbing for a month-and-a-half from surgery to treat an infection in his groin, Hayes has made a noticeable impact on his club. Going into Sunday’s game, Hayes had two goals and three assists in seven games, and he continued to produce against the Islanders.
Hayes scored two goals for the Flyers, including one on the power play. Hayes’ first goal came in the first period when Konecny teed him up for a wrist shot past Sorokin to tie the game. In the second period on the Flyers’ third power play of the afternoon, Hayes scored a goal from a slightly lower spot on a one-timer off a feed from Farabee to put the Flyers up 2-1.
What’s next
The Flyers hit the road for a five-game trip to finish out the month, starting on Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings at 7:30 p.m.
