Lookie, here.
Travis Konecny — the blue-chip prospect clawing for a roster spot — entered Wednesday’s game with the New Jersey Devils with a golden opportunity at his fingertips. To the delight of everyone involved, the 19-year-old put forth his best effort to date in the Flyers 2-0 win.
It started from the get-go as Konecny shot out of a cannon, creating offensive rushes and even throwing his body around at one point in the first quarter along the half boards. Coming into the game, I spoke with Konecny about the opportunity to play top line minutes with Brayden Schenn and Michael Raffl. To no surprise, he was excited at the chance.
MORE: Konecny eager for opportunity, wants to play more relaxed
“It always helps playing with good players,” Konecny said. “They see the ice real well. I just have to move my feet and get in good areas and I’m sure they’re going to find the spots.”
His goal — the first of the game — was a result of some nifty hand-eye coordination in front of the net on an Andrew MacDonald point blast that re-directed over the goalie’s shoulder. Konecny kept up the pace after that, eventually dishing out an impressive pass from the top of the slot to Michael Raffl down low that the forward buried. Both scores came in the second period.
Konecny came in on the outside, and still may very well be, but at the very least he’s making Ron Hextall — who prior to the game said he played “average” in the first game — think twice about keeping him.
- Hats off to the goalies, Anthony Stolarz and Alex Lyon. The tandem combined for an 18-save shutout. Stolarz stopped 11 shots in 29:23 of ice time with Lyon turning away the other seven in 30:37. In his first preseason action, Lyon stopped 23 of the 24 shots he saw while Stolarz blocked 27 of the 28 attempts. Both goalies figure to be integral in the future of the Flyers, beginning as early as next season with both Steve Mason and Michael Neuvirth do for new deals. Whoever plays the best between the two Phantoms goalies could very well be the backup in 2017.
- Mark Alt dropped the gloves in the second period. The fight didn’t look too nasty as Alt didn’t show any battle wounds, but the defenseman never returned to game action after that. The team says they’ll have an update on him on Thursday. This comes on the heels of the Nick Schultz announcement that he will miss 4-7 days with a lower-body injury, per Hextall.
- The Flyers shot leaders went as follows: Andrew MacDonald (4), Taylor Leier (3), Michael Raffl (3). Schenn, Raffl and Konecny all finished plus-2.
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