The Flyers completed a two-game sweep of the New York Islanders this past weekend, getting some highly-sought revenge after postseason heartbreak. It’s only fitting that the chapter was kicked off by a grand performance by one of the teams’ youngest stars in the making, Joel Farabee.
A first-round pick back in 2018, Joel Farabee posted 8 goals and 13 goals as a rookie through 52 games. He has 8 points through 10 games in 2021 after a huge breakout against the Isles.
On Sunday night, Farabee became the third Flyer in franchise history to record a regular-season hat trick before his 21st birthday, joining Mike Richards and Eric Lindros, who did so four times.
The first goal was pushed to the bottom left corner after taking the puck on his stick from JVR and angling his shot perfectly around a defender. van Riemsdyk was at it again in the second, setting up Farabee for his second of the night. A quick pass was the perfect layup for a one-timer that flew past Ilya Sorokin. The hat-trick was completed in the second period with a cheeky deflection on a screen. He finished the night with four shots and a plus-3 rating.
“Joel is a young man that really wants to learn and grow his game.” Alain Vigneault said when reflecting on the performance of his young winger. “He works extremely hard. He had a good summer. Had a very good first game. Then he worked hard in the other ones. I think in the last couple there, he’s played really well with Scotty Laughton. There’s seems to be some chemistry. Tonight, playing him with James turned out to be a good night for our team and a good night for that line, and an especially good night for him.”
Farabee’s maturation is impossible to miss. He entered training camp with some extra weight to his frame and looked poised to cause problems for opposing goalies during his second season. However, he credits his own goaltenders for a lot of his improvements in the shooting department
“I think for me, it’s really nice having Moose and Hartsy as our goalies.” Farabee said. “They’re so good in practice and they really challenge us. Tonight, it just kind of happened to go in for me. I feel really good about my game right now and hopefully, we keep moving forward from here.”
Still only 20 years of age, the future is clearly very bright for the second-year leftie and if he can continue to shine like he did here and against Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, then he’ll be a huge part of the team for a very long time.
Photo Credit: Alex McIntyre
