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Flyer recall Joel Farabee, Mikhail Vorobyev from Phantoms as offense hits a snag

Trying to boost their offense, the Flyers recalled winger Joel Farabee and center Mikhail "Misha" Vorobyev from the Phantoms on Sunday night. The Flyers have outshot their last two opponents by a combined 91-38, but have been outscored, 10-4.

The Flyers recalled winger Joel Farabee from Lehigh Valley, where he had four points, including three goals, in four games. They also recalled center Mikhail Vorobyev and sent winger Carsen Twarynski to the Phantoms.
The Flyers recalled winger Joel Farabee from Lehigh Valley, where he had four points, including three goals, in four games. They also recalled center Mikhail Vorobyev and sent winger Carsen Twarynski to the Phantoms.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

That didn’t take long.

After just four games with the AHL’s Phantoms, the Flyers had seen enough positives to promote winger Joel Farabee to the big-league team Sunday night.

Farabee, 19, had three goals and an assist, collecting a point in each game. He is expected to make his NHL debut and be on the third line Monday against visiting Vegas,

In addition, 22-year-old center Mikhail “Misha” Vorobyev (four points in five games) also was promoted from the Phantoms, and the Flyers sent left winger Carsen Twarynski to Lehigh Valley. Twarynski, 21, had a goal and a plus-1 rating (highest among Flyers’ forwards) in six games.

The Flyers have, by far, the greatest shots advantage in the NHL in the early part of the season, but it hasn’t translated into many goals.

The hope is that Farabee helps a struggling offense. The Flyers are averaging 36.2 shots per game (third in the NHL) and allowing just 26 (first), an average of 10.2 more shots than their opponents.

No matter. They are just 2-3-1 and have lost four straight. In their last two games, losses to Edmonton and Dallas, they have outshot their opponents, 91-38, but were outscored 10-4.

Just like last season, they are getting the chances but are not able to finish them.

“I guess we just have to stick to what we’re doing,” said center Sean Couturier, who scored the Flyers’ lone goal Saturday in their 4-1 loss to visiting Dallas. “Bounces are going to come our way soon and we’ll have success.”

The Flyers had 39 shots against the Stars, but most of them were from the perimeter.

“The big thing was, we weren’t giving up the odd-man rushes that we’ve been doing in the past," Dallas goalie Ben Bishop said after the Stars improved to 2-7-1.

Earlier in the week, new coach Alain Vigneault said the Flyers’ emphasis this season is on defense, and that has caused the forwards to be diligent about staying back in the defensive end and maybe prevented them from breaking out so quickly into the attack.

“We have to find the right balance,” he said.

They will try to find it against Vegas (6-3), which has won four of its last five games.

“We’re doing a lot of the right things -- traffic, jamming pucks, going hard to the net, but we’re having a tough time making teams pay for their mistakes,” Vigneault said after Saturday’s loss. “But as far as our process and how we’re playing offensively and how we’re playing defensively, you have to like our game.”

Winger James van Riemsdyk, who had 27 goals in 66 games last season, has played well but has yet to register a point in six games. He has 24 shots over the last three games,

many from point-blank range.

“I’m just trying to stay even-keeled,” he said. “Just stick with it, keep working hard, and they’re bound to go in if I keep getting good looks."

The penalty kill has hurt the Flyers in their last two losses, killing just one of four in that span. Dallas was 1-for-2 on its power play Saturday, while the Flyers were 0-for-4 with an extra attacker.

Breakaways

Carter Hart has stopped just 22 of 29 shots over the last two games, a .759 save percentage. … Van Riemsdyk has had consecutive nine-shot games. It’s the 13th time in franchise history a player has had at least 18 shots in consecutive games and the first time since 2008-09 when Jeff Carter did it. Carter didn’t score in those two games, either, but he had an assist. ... Vegas is coming off Saturday’s 3-0 win in Pittsburgh as Marc-Andre Fleury blanked his former team and tied Terry Sawchuk for seventh on the NHL’s all-time win list (445). … Ivan Provorov replaced Shayne Gostisbehere on the first power-play unit Saturday. Gostisbehere went to the second unit. ... At five-on-five, Matt Niskanen played with Provorov on the top unit and Justin Braun dropped down to the second pairing with Travis Sanheim.