PHILADELPHIA — Last season, Flyers winger Travis Konecny struggled to put the puck into the back of the net, scoring on a career-low 7.3% of his shots.
But on Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Wells Fargo Center, Konecny proved that those scoring woes are merely a distant memory.
The 25-year-old Konecny scored twice, once short-handed and once at even strength, to lead the Flyers to a 5-3 victory. Konecny ranks first on the team in goals with 14 this season through 27 games, putting him on a career-best .54 goals-per-game pace. Tuesday marked Konecny’s first multi-goal game of the season since the opener against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 13 when he also scored twice.
Both goals were highlight-reel worthy, but his second was particularly impressive. Less than three minutes into the third period, Konecny scored on his backhand off the rush, wrangling around Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov in the process to put the Flyers up, 4-2.
The Blue Jackets cut the Flyers’ lead to one when defenseman Andrew Peeke sniped a shot bar-down on goalie Carter Hart. But the Flyers stood tall and protected their lead until the final horn sounded, as winger Owen Tippett notched an empty-net goal.
First time for everything
Before this season, Konecny wasn’t utilized much while the Flyers were short-handed. However, when coach John Tortorella arrived in Philadelphia, he decided to take advantage of Konecny’s speed and energy as a key member of the penalty kill. Tortorella likes to mix and match pairs, and Konecny has primarily been coupled with forward Scott Laughton. The duo has shown offensive chemistry on the kill, with Laughton’s first short-handed goal of the season coming off an assist from Konecny, and continued to build on it against the Blue Jackets.
The Flyers went on the kill halfway through the first period after winger Johnny Gaudreau drew a hooking call against defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. Roughly 40 seconds into the infraction, Laughton cleared the puck and banked it off of the wall in the neutral zone to spring Konecny for a one-on-one against Blue Jackets defenseman Marcus Bjork. Konecny maneuvered his way to the inside of the right circle and fired a shot past Blue Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov to put the Flyers up, 1-0. The short-handed goal marked the first of Konecny’s career.
A top-notch trio
Since winger James van Riemsdyk returned from a broken finger on Dec. 7, he has primarily played alongside center Morgan Frost and Tippett. Despite the Flyers’ losses in that time frame, Tortorella has opted to keep them together as they have jelled offensively. Together, they helped the Flyers wrangle momentum away from the Blue Jackets when the visitors were up, 2-1.
Frost notched the equalizer when he was given time and space to walk the puck to the middle of the left faceoff circle. He scored on a wrist shot, marking his third goal in three games and the first time this season he has tallied goals in consecutive games. Four minutes later, Tippett had a give-and-go with winger Joel Farabee, who found him at the front of the net from below the goal line. Tippett scored to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.
A dangerous bunch off the rush
On Tuesday after morning skate, Tortorella acknowledged the offensive potency of the Blue Jackets’ line of Gaudreau, winger Patrik Laine, and center Kent Johnson. He thought they were particularly dangerous off the rush, an area that the Flyers struggled in defensively on Saturday night against the New York Rangers.
Tortorella’s perception became reality halfway through the second period with the score tied at 1, thanks to a deflection goal by Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko. Gaudreau helped the Blue Jackets get out of their own zone, attempting to pass the puck ahead to Laine. Ristolainen got his stick on it, but he lost an edge and the puck went back to Gaudreau. He got the puck to Johnson in the neutral zone, scoring at 2-on-1 to give the Blue Jackets the 2-1 lead.
What’s next
The Flyers hit the road to face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday at 2 p.m.
