Farabee’s Match Penalty Allows Jets to Roll Past Flyers

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

It's no secret that the Flyers have been a shorthanded team marred with injuries during a three-game road trip. On Sunday evening in Winnipeg, they were actually controlled a chunk of the play throughout the first half of the game and had taken a 2-0 deficit and made it a game again at 2-1 with opportunities to tie.

Then Joel Farabee threw a hit that changed the game. He was assessed a five-minute match penalty for interference, giving Winnipeg a massive power play with a chance to break the game open. They did.

With four goals in 4:17, the 2-1 deficit turned into a 6-1 shellacking and the Flyers ended a three-game road trip with a 7-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets got on the board first with a goal right off a face-off. Blake Wheeler won the draw, Jack Roslovic pushed the puck back to Nikolaj Ehlers and his quick release beat Brian Elliott to make it 1-0.

Midway through the period, the Jets got their second goal. Luca Sbisa was left open at the left point and he stepped up and fired a shot by Elliott to make it 2-0.

Early in the second, the Flyers got a power play chance and were able to cash in. Matt Niskanen was able to pick up a rebound and score to cut the lead to one at 4:15 of the period.

For the next few minutes, the Flyers were pushing the play and came close to tying the game. Farabee's interference major off a late hit on Mathieu Perreault came at the 9:03 mark.

For the next five minutes, the Flyers were on the penalty kill. Wheeler got the first goal of the man-advantage 1:31 into the five-minute penalty. For most of the power play, it appeared that was all the Jets would get. Then an extended sequence of possession where Justin Braun was playing without a stick allowed the Jets to cycle effectively and get the puck into the slot for Mark Scheifele, who scored on a one-timer with 48 seconds left on the power play. 

In the seconds after the power play ended, the Jets scored two more goals separated by 16 seconds. Logan Shaw scored on a quick release from the right circle that quickly went in and out of the net to make it 5-1. Patrik Laine scored to make it 6-1 with a centering pass on a two-on-one that hit Shayne Gostisbehere's skate and went in.

James van Riemsdyk scored on a rebound in the final minute of the second period to make it 6-2.

Despite the four-goal deficit, the Flyers actually had a 21-17 lead in shots after 40 minutes. Elliott exited after the second period and Carter Hart took over.

At 6:43 of the third, the Jets quickly added another goal just seconds into a power play. A point shot by Neal Pionk was deflected twice, last touched by Kyle Connor to make it 7-2. Gostisbehere added a goal at 9:41 to cap the scoring. 

Elliott finished the game with 11 saves on 17 shots. Hart made five saves on six shots. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 29 of 32 shots.

Scheifele, Wheeler and Pionk each had three-point games for Winnipeg. Connor had a two-point game. Hayes and van Riemsdyk finished with multi-point games for the Flyers. On Gostisbehere's goal, Nicolas Aube–Kubel picked up an assist for his first NHL point.

The Flyers return to action on Tuesday night at home when they face the Anaheim Ducks at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• WPG Nikolaj Ehlers (14) (Jack Roslovic, Blake Wheeler) 4:57
• WPG Luca Sbisa (2) (Neal Pionk, Adam Lowry) 11:49

2nd Period

• PHI Matt Niskanen (4) PP (Kevin Hayes, James van Riemsdyk) 4:15
• WPG Wheeler (9) PP (Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele) 10:34
• WPG Scheifele (15) PP (Wheeler, Pionk) 13:15
• WPG Logan Shaw (1) (Nick Shore) 14:35
• WPG Patrik Laine (10) (Kyle Connor) 14:51
• PHI van Riemsdyk (8) (Ivan Provorov, Hayes) 19:32

3rd Period

• WPG Connor (14) PP (Scheifele, Pionk) 6:43
• PHI Shayne Gostisbehere (5) (Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Sean Couturier) 9:41

Game Statistics