When @Joel Farabee charged at @Mathieu Perreault with the intent of hitting him into the seventh row of the seats, there were two things the @Winnipeg Jets could have done in response:

A ) Seek retaliation via the means of ‘taking out’ one of their players, or dropping the mitts with one of their guys because Farabee was kicked out of the game but “hockey code” dictates that someone needs to fight.

B) Seek retaliation via the means of goal scoring during the five minute man advantage, to take what was a fairly close 2-1 game against the @Philadelphia Flyers and blow it wide open.

They thankfully dug in and chose option B and it was also a far better and satisfying response as opposed to a player from the Jets just dropping the mitts.

We really haven’t said as much as we should have about the level of discipline the Winnipeg Jets have displayed all season, and I’m not just talking about the fact that they one of the lowest penalty minutes per game rates in the NHL. This team has displayed a knack of falling behind in games only to storm back later on without any real sense of panic. The lack of penalties are also a product of that, but think back to previous Jets teams and what their response would have been to the kind of hit Farabee laid out. Guys like @Mark Stuart and @Chris Thorburn and @Anthony Peluso would have hit the ice with every intent to even the score in a physical manner.

Now the they have a team that looks to even the score on the scoreboard and I don’t think it should be underestimated how important it was that the Jets punished the Flyers by putting up a four spot after that hit. Teams aren’t afraid of paying a physical price on the ice, but they’ll be damn sure afraid of a team that can turn a one goal game into a four goal blowout.

Joel Farabee wasn’t really a widely known name before Sunday’s game outside a handful of Flyers followers who were keeping tabs on the 2018 first round draft pick, but after Sunday’s game he found a way to have his name make national headlines as the NHL Department Of Player Safety was going to have a talk with young Mr. Farabee after his absolutely brutal and completely needless hit of Mathieu Perreault.

The puck is long gone off of Perreault’s stick before the predatory Farabee even gets halfway towards his target. The puck – which wasn’t exactly zipped around the boards – is actually to @Neal Pionk by the time that the hit is laid out. That’s how late the hit is. It’s not a targeting of the head, but the hit is high and you can tell Farabee’s intent is to make sure the head and back are driven into the boards with the way he follows through with the pushing forward of his arms.

It’s such a pointless hit that it can’t be excused for anything else other than an intent to injure. The NHL should throw the book at a kid that now has three majors in his last four games played, but because he’s a “first time offender” and because Mathieu is not dead, the NHL will likely suspend him for a game, maybe two if head of Player Safety George Parros didn’t get extra sugar in his morning latte. The NHL is as committed to “player safety” as Don Cherry is to cultural sensitivity, so things like this will continue to happen and players like Farabee will get tiny slaps on the wrist and a stern ‘tsk tsk’ from the league until a player ends up paralyzed or worse.

At the very least, the Jets made the Flyers pay where it counted most. If ever there was a time where the Jets power play needed to be actually decent for once, that was it. Scoring twice on the ensuing five minute man advantage was a godsend and the two extra goals that followed that power play were just icing and sprinkles on top. It was four minutes and seventeen seconds of beautiful comeuppance that essentially won the game for the Jets.

It was a 2-1 game up until that point with the Flyers threatening after a decent end to the first period for them, but after the four goal outburst this game was done and over.

Now here is hoping Perreault isn’t out long term with an injury – especially concerning when you factor in his previous history with concussions – because he’s such a valuable part of the Jets third line. Andrew Copp and Adam Lowry have been great, but a lot of that is credit to just how consistent Perreault is on a nightly basis.

Here’s your heat map from the game, this one of all situations, not just 5 on 5 even strength.

I don’t think I’ve seen such heavy coloring in the slot area and around the opposing goal in weeks. Four goals scored in that area? Did you ever think you’d see such a thing?

Of course it’s not a surprise to see a heavy Flyers presence over on their offensive zone map as the Jets routinely give that up every game. I hate to sound like a broken record but the only reason the Jets had a lead after 20 minutes of play was thanks in large part to @Connor Hellebuyck who made a handful of really tough stops in the first period and then had to make a couple of more key saves in the second – including one on a short handed breakaway, because the Jets seem to give one of those up each game.

At this point I should just come up with a “Jets need to be better and tougher around their own net and not give it up as easily as they do” statement that I can copy and paste into pretty much every game, but at the very least in this game got to the same high danger scoring area and were rewarded for it.