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Farabee ends 0-for-7 on breakaways as Flames beat Flyers 4-3 in overtime

Farabee ends 0-for-7 on breakaways as Flames beat Flyers 4-3 in overtime

Joel Farabee scored a short-handed third-period equalizer and Matt Coronato added the overtime winner as the Calgary Flames defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Sunday.

The Story

Joel Farabee solved a breakaway problem as the Calgary Flames beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime.

After going 0-for-7 on breakaways this season, Farabee scored a short-handed goal in the third period to tie the game. The play began during a Calgary penalty kill, when Martin Pospisil chipped the puck to the middle for Farabee, who then beat Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar going inside-outside on a forehand-backhand move.

Farabee said he had been thinking about what he was doing wrong after his breakaway start to the year, adding that he talked with teammate Jake Middleton. “Mids and I sat down and we talked about it and he said I'm a deker. Literally when I got the puck, that's what was in my head,” Farabee said. “It definitely feels good. Just the time of the game, obviously being down and to get it on the penalty kill, definitely felt like the crowd got into it.”

Matt Coronato scored the overtime winner for the Flames, who improved to 8-9-1. Calgary also extended a streak of consecutive wins when scoring four goals or more to 62.

Farabee has recorded team-leading totals of seven goals and 10 assists in Calgary’s first 18 games. The Flames acquired the 26-year-old from Philadelphia in a trade in January 2025, and head coach Ryan Huska said Farabee has benefited when he’s getting chances. Huska noted that Farabee “hasn’t had a lot of success on breakaways this year,” making Sunday’s goal a key moment.

Calgary also continued to adjust after the loss of shutdown defenceman Kevin Bahl for the rest of the season. The team announced Sunday that the 26-year-old from New Westminster, B.C., required surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon, an injury he sustained during dryland warm-ups before Friday’s 5-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

On Sunday, Calgary’s defencemen produced half the team’s goals, with Zach Whitecloud scoring his first goal as a Flame and Zane Parekh adding a goal. Parekh said losing Bahl was difficult, but that players needed to step up. “Bahler was our best player all year and our best defenceman, so losing him, it’s tough. You just keep putting your best foot forward for him.”

Devin Cooley returned as the Flames’ goaltender after missing five games with a lower-body injury and stopped 32 shots for the win. Cooley improved to 5-3 with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. The 2026-27 season has also seen Cooley’s post-game interviews attract attention for discussion of his mental approach while he’s in Calgary’s net, including how he describes his unconscious and conscious mind and his focus during games. He said Sunday he has received messages from other players in the league and expressed that he’s glad he can offer more than just playing sport. “I've gotten messages from other guys in the league too who have reached out,” Cooley said. “I'm like, man, that's really cool. I'm glad I can do something instead of just play a sport, because that doesn't really make a huge impact on humanity.”

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