Joel Farabee didn't shy away from taking accountability for his "dumb penalty" against the Panthers on Thursday night.
However, his actions in defense of teammate Travis Sanheim further show the Flyers' closeness and their willingness to step up for each other. It's something John Tortorella has always commended. He can work with players that care.
"I'd rather coach a Joel Farabee down, to maybe just fight another day, maybe retaliate another day, than having a team trying to force people to help one another out," Tortorella said after practice on Friday.
Late in the Flyers' eventual loss to the Panthers, Sam Bennett, a known agitator, hit Travis Sanheim hard into the boards. Farabee took exception to that, laying a cross-check on him before attempting to drop the gloves with Gustav Forsling.
When all was said and done, Farabee and Forsling were both called for roughing. On top of that, Farabee was handed a cross-checking penalty as well. And with a Panthers power play that had burned Philadelphia twice already, it was an ill-advised time to give them another chance.
But Farabee felt that Bennett had already taken liberties with another one of the team's best players, Travis Konecny. Konecny took a hit up high from Bennett in the first period and was a little slow getting to the bench.
"First things first, it's a really dumb penalty by me, I'll be the first to admit that," Farabee said. "But at the same time, I think Bennett throws a vicious elbow at T.K. earlier in the game, then he crosschecks Sanny from behind, I get slashed right before that. I don't know, I don't want to get into what the refs do and don't do, but I think if you have some feel, I think that gets evened out and it's just you keep playing, it's two minutes left in the game."
The Panthers scored the game-winning goal on the ensuing power play, adding the dagger after Emil Andrae was forced to take a tripping penalty with the empty net.
Even though Farabee took the blame for what he did, he will continue to play that way. It's a stable of the Flyers locker room to stick up for each other on the ice when they feel they are being bullied.
"I don't think at any point in my career I'll ever back down from a situation like that where a teammate gets cheap-shotted, in my opinion. I know I'm not the toughest guy out there, but at the same time, someone's going to hear about it."
It's a similar style to the Panthers who will try to take liberties with their physicality to draw you into retaliating. And it's why Bennett does what he does. He plays that type of game, which comes with a reputation. But someone like Farabee does have to be smarter about picking and choosing when to respond.
"I don't think it's a really bad hit, I don't," Tortorella later added. "It's a shove and I think we also have to understand where the situation of the game is. Sometimes being a team that's strong is to be able to take hits, to be able to handle those type of situations. In such a long year, there are other opportunities if you think you need retribution."
Tortorella did say that he doesn't want to condemn Farabee, knowing that his heart was in the right place in the moment. They do consider Farabee to be leader when it comes to helping out the younger core. Seeing him step up in that moment shows that the Flyers mean business when it comes to protecting one another.
And his teammates were more than okay with what Farabee did at the time, even if it ended up costing them.
"I have no issues with what Beezer did. I think he's a great teammate and sticks up for a guy," Seeler said after the game. "We ended up getting a penalty, whether that was fair or not, you know, I'm not here to say, but I have no issues with what Beezer did."
It was all part of the bigger issues regarding why they lost to the Panthers. It's the "self-inflicted" wounds that the Flyers need to get better at preventing. But with a team that cares this much about each other, there is no worry that they won't figure it out.