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Kevin Hayes, Joel Farabee lift the Flyers past the New York Islanders, 2-1

The Flyers beat the New York Islanders 2-1 to give them five points in their last four games.

Flyers center Kevin Hayes celebrates his first second period goal with his teammates against the New York Islanders on Sunday, March 20, 2022 in Philadelphia.
Flyers center Kevin Hayes celebrates his first second period goal with his teammates against the New York Islanders on Sunday, March 20, 2022 in Philadelphia.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

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 second 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. Later in the period on the power play, Farabee made a pass to Hayes from his knees to set up Hayes’ second goal, which proved to be the game-winner. Winger Travis Konecny also registered assists on both of Hayes’ goals.

“Just with the absence of G [Giroux], I think some other guys have to step up,” Farabee said. “It’s kind of a new era, in a sense. Talking to TK [Konecny], I think we have a little more responsibility, which I think we both embrace and we want to be the best players that we can be.”

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 following his acquisition from Florida in the Giroux trade, 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 Casey Cizikas. Tippett played on the Flyers’ second power-play unit with Cam York, 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 a feed from Ivan Provorov went wide. Tippett finished the afternoon with two shots on goal.

“As a hockey player, you should never be closed off to the mindset of a new opportunity and a fresh start,” Tippett said. “Obviously, it’s not what you think of when you first start playing for a team. But when it comes to reality, it can be a great thing. So I’m taking it the positive way and then just kind of looking at it as a new opportunity and a fresh start.”

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 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 with both of the Flyers’ goals.

“Hayesy, the guy has been through so much this year,” Yeo said. “You just look at the on-ice part of it. This is a guy that could have packed it in, but he wants to play and I have so much respect for him for that. If he can continue to feel good about himself, then that’s a great story for us.”

What’s next

The Flyers hit the road for a five-game trip to finish out the month, starting Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings at 7:30 p.m.