Highlights Beyond Highlights- Feb. 12 vs. Coyotes

Tonight starts with a ridiculous pass by Cam Atkinson to Joel Farabee.  It may not have seemed as such on the surface, but watch this clip twice to see why.

The conventional passing route here would have been to go across the center circle, tape-to-tape.  That’s what the Arizona defenseman is anticipating.  To accomplish that, Atkinson would have had to thread the needle past that defender, and even if it made it through, it would have hit Farabee on his backhand which would have then received an immediate check from that defender.

Instead, Atkinson drops his shoulder and fires a pass nearly ten feet behind Farabee, playing a perfect bank shot off the near boards.  Not only does this arrive perfectly on Farabee’s forehand, but it loses some steam after hitting the boards so it’s much easier to handle. And the defenseman now has to go into panic mode. Although Farabee doesn’t score, it’s an incredibly high-IQ level play by both of them – for Atkinson to see it, and for Farabee to not stop and instead realize exactly what’s happening.

Next is a Scott Laughton appreciation clip.  You might have seen the highlight already; you may or may not have noticed him getting high-sticked in the face.  It’s difficult to score this goal under normal circumstances, but it’s remarkably difficult to do it while getting high-sticked in the face.

And then a quick clip from the security camera for a play that Joel Farabee makes with a little over four minutes left in regulation that is rather unnoticeable in the course of play, but could have changed the game. 

The Flyers are leading by one when Farabee first hurls his body in front of a shot from the point for the team’s 13^th and final block of the contest.  He then gets to a loose puck and clears the zone, doing so with an excellent touch so as not to take an icing.  His line then goes for a change, but Farabee recognizes that this puck didn’t get particularly deep in the Arizona zone, and that the Coyotes are going to try to catch the Flyers in that line change.  So Farabee stays out and guards the weak side where Arizona is trying to transition, and doesn’t leave until he’s got coverage.  You’ll see the Coyotes gaining the zone right at the end of the clip, but that arrival was delayed by Farabee’s presence.  If he goes off with the rest of his line, that lane is wide open and who knows what Arizona might have been able to generate.