Think Joel Farabee is motivated? Flyers prospect scores nasty goal to kick off pro career with Phantoms

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Joel Farabee wasn't able to score during the preseason as he auditioned for the Flyers.

He had chances, he rung posts, he showed his skill, he played with max effort, but production often wins jobs and the 19-year-old couldn't deliver in that facet.

It may have cost him a spot in the Flyers' 2019-20 season-opening lineup.

Think that was on his mind a little bit as he began his pro career Friday night with AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley?

In the Phantoms' 4-1 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at PPL Center, Farabee scored a nasty goal off a spectacular stretch pass from Philippe Myers.

That's a glimpse of Farabee's skill. The winger is a strategic finisher and he's going to put up points in Lehigh Valley. He played on the Phantoms' top line Friday with Cal O’Reilly (point-per-game player in the AHL last season) and Greg Carey (career-high 61 points in Lehigh Valley last season).

Connor Bunnaman and Carsen Twarynski, both 21-year-old rookies, earned their spots with the Flyers, who were also tight on the cap and had fourth-line winger Tyler Pitlick return just in time for the season opener. It all played into head coach Alain Vigneault and the Flyers surprising themselves by not opening the 2019-20 season with Farabee in the lineup.

"I had mentioned that there were also going to be some cap decisions that were going to come into effect," Vigneault said Tuesday. "Pitlick coming back in permitted us to not dress seven D but six and four lines. And at the end of the day, I thought Joel had a real good camp other than being able to get on the score sheet, but the chances and effort were there.

"But I thought both other young kids, Bunny and T, were just a little bit more effective in what we needed going forward. I had a good talk with Joel up in Europe about if he goes to Lehigh Valley with the right mindset, the right work ethic, the willingness to get better and get his game to where it needs to be, there's no doubt in my mind that at some point, if he plays well there, we'll probably see him back here."

Dazzling and dangling, Farabee started that push Friday night.

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