On Jan. 12, the Philadelphia Flyers capped off a two-goal comeback against the Minnesota Wild in overtime with a 4-3 win on the road. With Joel Farabee scoring the dagger, the Flyers moved to a 22-14-6 record on the season and got their second consecutive victory. What were some takeaways?
The Flyers Are Relentless
Right when it looked like the Flyers were dead to rights and had no chance of coming back to even make the contest somewhat close, they responded. Two quick Minnesota goals in the first five minutes of the third period made a 1-1 tie a 3-1 deficit for Philadelphia, and they hadn’t been the better team since early in the first period. Their momentum had all but faded, yet they flipped a switch.
One goal for the Flyers turned into two, and that forced overtime. In a match that they really had no business coming back in, they went ahead and won with a power-play goal to seal it.
It’s an easy conclusion to make that the Flyers might have lost a game like this one last season, given their unimpressive 31-38-13 record, but they had a contest against the Wild last season where essentially the same things played out. Trailing by a goal over midway through the third period, they came back to win the game 5-4 in a shootout. What sets that game and this one apart is that the Flyers needed this one while they were all but eliminated from playoff contention, sitting at 27-32-12. In addition, it’s been a season-long theme for the Flyers to get these sorts of wins — it’s a part of their DNA.
There have definitely been contests where the Flyers had no chance and didn’t threaten to change that, but they’ve had an equal number of matches where the adverse was true. Their players have absolutely no quit, and that has been one of the big reasons why they’re sitting in third place in the Metropolitan Divison.
Tippett Had One of His Best Games of the Season
At the perfect time, Owen Tippett arguably had his best game of the season and one of his best performances in a while. He was on a two-game goal-scoring streak entering this contest, but the game he had against the Wild went far beyond scoring goals. He still struggled with missing the net as he often does, but he was a net positive defensively and impacted the game when necessary offensively. He deserves his flowers for this one.
Tippett tends to be a streaky player, as exemplified by over half of his goals being scored in a seven-game stretch of games this season. When he’s on it, he’s on it — we are seeing him at his best now. Scoring a goal — and an assist, at that — doesn’t automatically mean a player had a great game, but this was an exception to that. Tippett was the difference between a win and, potentially, a multi-goal loss here.
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A restricted free agent (RFA) this offseason, he just made the Flyers’ decision a bit easier if they plan on keeping him. If he has more performances like the one he showed, maybe they’d be right in giving him another contract. He has the next half of the season to show he can be an all-around dominant player like he was here. There are still reasons to be skeptical of his game, but he could be changing the narrative.
Farabee Continues Dominant New Year
2024 might be the year of Farabee, as he has three multi-point games and is sitting at a healthy two goals and five assists for seven points in six contests in January. The 23-year-old potted both the first and last tallies in this one, emerging as another player that the Flyers could not have won without.
As long as he’s getting ice time, Farabee will stay hot. Unsurprisingly, in a month where he has gotten first-line ice time every single game, he has cruised. Not only has he been a legitimate top-six forward, but a legitimate top-line player, too. He gets underrated a bit, and it’s easy to do that when he has just 32 points as a player with “star” potential, but he has started to emerge into that this season. When he gets the chance, he plays as well as anyone else on the ice.
The Flyers Should Not Trade Konecny
As if it was even in question at this point in the season, the Flyers have no reason to get rid of Travis Konecny anytime soon. The 26-year-old winger has become the face of the Orange and Black this season and still has a bright future ahead of him. His poise and hockey IQ are elite, making it very difficult for the Flyers to get anything even close to him in terms of a trade.
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Konecny has elevated his playmaking game recently, and that was proven by a beautiful pass through the legs of a Minnesota defender to set up Farabee for an easy goal, tying the game at one. Looking at his 39 points in 42 games this season, an outsider might think that he’s having an okay campaign for his standards — that couldn’t be further from the case. He is a true star player in the NHL and should remain so for years to come.
Starting his Flyer journey in 2016-17, Konecny is one of the longest-tenured players on the team. It’s hard to process that, considering his youth, but he is nonetheless one of the veterans on the roster. He will still be under contract with the team in 2024-25, but after that, he’s fair game for all. Philadelphia should definitely consider giving him an extension the second that becomes possible, as he is the future.
The Flyers won’t have too much time off, slated to face the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 13 on the road to close out their back-to-back. Winnipeg, the best team in the NHL with a 28-9-4 record, will be a big task for Philadelphia. They should be proud of themselves if they can get an upset victory.