Konecny fights his way out of slump at key time

VOORHEES, N.J. – Five games without a goal might not be a big deal to some players but it can feel like an eternity when your name is Travis Konecny.
The Flyers’ sniper had been getting decent chances the first couple weeks on the schedule but nothing was going in.
Either opposing goaltenders were making highlight video saves, the puck was bouncing harmlessly off a post or Konecny simply missed the net.
The drought finally came to an end in Monday night’s win over the Seattle Kraken. Konecny connected off a nice feed from defenseman Egor Zamula at 4:59 of the second period to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead on the way to a 5-2 victory.
“Now I don’t have to hear about being snakebitten again,” Konecny wisecracked after Tuesday’s practice at the Flyers Training Center. “It was a big goal during the game.”
Konecny even got into a fight with Seattle’s Ryan Lindgren midway through the third period, just another example of why he’s so valuable to the Flyers as not only an elite offensive player but one that can get under an opponent’s skin.
Lindgren had been targeting the Flyers’ Owen Tippett, so Konecny – all 5-foot-10, 190 pounds of him – decided to take matters into his own hands.
“I saw him kept going at ‘Tip’ and, I mean, he’s our hottest guy,” Konecny said. “It was just one of those things where I was just kind of like ‘what are you doin’?’ And then he tried to jump me.”
Coach Rick Tocchet was confident Konecny was going to snap out of this recent funk, so he kept him on the top line with Sean Couturier and Tippett.
“His work ethic is something I’ve not complained about,” Tocchet said.
As for the Lindgren tussle, the coach indicated there are two sides to every coin in a fight.
“I do appreciate it,” Tocchet said. “But we just have to be careful, too. We have to be disciplined. More than anything I like to protect my teammates but there also other factors – a clean hit. . .you can’t go after guys every time after a clean hit.”

>Bracing for heavy workload

Travis Sanheim leads the NHL in minutes played as of Tuesday at an average of 27 minutes, 16 seconds per game.
Tocchet has been asked more than once about the risk of playing the defenseman a little too much.
However, Sanheim isn’t complaining about the heavy workload.
“Trying to get as much rest as I can,” Sanheim said. “I’m actually for the most part trying to up my training. Trying to hold onto that strength. It’s something coming into the season I wanted to do.”
A week ago Tocchet gave Sanheim an unscheduled day off from practice but he basically had to talk the player into it.
“I’m comfortable playing those minutes,” Sanheim insisted. “It’s something I want to do throughout the course of the whole season.
“When you look at it, some guys need the rest. Some guys are better coming off a rest. I think I’m actually better off ‘loads’ and training. I have to make sure I keep those loads up. I don’t know, it gives more juice to some guys that can handle it that way.”

>Power play shows signs of life

The Flyers finally broke out of their power-play slump on Monday night. In the first five games they had score only one goal with the man advantage. In this game they scored a whopping two.
“I think just getting better everyday, getting more comfortable with the group,” Sanheim explained. “I believe the guys have done a nice job in recognizing what’s available.
“As the season goes along, I think you’re going to see guys being a lot more comfortable, making more plays and ultimately scoring more goals.”