After connecting on two rare shorthanded breakaway goals in one game on Monday night, maybe Travis Konecny should head for the casino.
For sure, the cards fell in Konecny’s favor as those two scores were enough for a Flyers’ 2-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, ending Philadelphia’s six-game (0-5-1) winless streak.
Conversely, the Knights’ seven-game winning streak came to a close.
The Flyers’ Owen Tippett took a bad delay of game penalty with 1:33 to play but Philadelphia hung on despite Vegas’ six-on-four manpower advantage with their goalie removed.
On the winning goal, Konecny took advantage of a Jack Eichel giveaway and converted a breakaway against Vegas netminder Adin Hill at 7:22 of the third period.
Playing better defense and getting better goaltending from Sam Ersson led to this badly needed win. It was the Swede’s first win since Dec. 23.
In addition, the Flyers killed all but one of the Golden Knights’ seven power plays.
How big was this win for this team?
“It was big,” Konecny confirmed in a post-game televised interview. “Starting off the road trip with this. Coming in and playing a veteran team that plays well at home. I thought we did a great job, our penalty kill was awesome.”
Ersson played probably his best game of the season.
“I’m super-happy for ‘Ers’,” Konecny said. “He’s been grinding away and he deserved that one.”
Ersson might have been struggling but he never lost confidence in his ability.
“Haven’t been playing well enough, obviously,” he said. “It was huge. The guys played great. The PK did a great job all night. It was a tough task. They’re a very good power play team. Great way to get back in the win column. In the tough times, you’ve got to trust your game even more. Not overthinking it.”
Coach Rick Tocchet acknowledged the performances of Konecny and Ersson, along with the penalty kill, were the keys to this important win.
“A lot of our players, a gutsy effort,” Tocchet said. “It (the PK) is a confidence builder. He (Konecny) is a great guy to coach. He knows when he screws up, he puts it on himself. He battles out of it. Even in our meetings he’s trying to calm guys down.”
As for Ersson, he couldn’t have picked a better time to have a five-star effort.
“I will say, even with the tough stretch he’s had, he’s not feeling sorry for himself,” Tocchet said. “He’s doing what he needs to do in practice. That’s all you can ask of a guy. Things don’t go your way, don’t come in and pout. He doesn’t have that attitude. It’s almost like a closer’s mentality.”
For the second straight game, Konecny opened the scoring, on this occasion with a timely shorthanded goal.
Konecny picked up a good read on a defenseman’s pass attempt at the blue line. The Flyer stepped in, raced down the ice and sent a shot past Hill at 3:46.
The Flyers held onto that edge into the final minute of the second period. Then Noah Cates took a bad penalty below the goal line at the Vegas end of the rink.
On the ensuing power play, Tomas Hertl tipped in Eichel’s shot with 31.2 seconds left on the clock for a 1-1 tie.
Despite that breakdown, Sean Couturier remained optimistic.
“I think we’re winning more battles,” Couturier said at the second intermission. “We’re moving our feet, we’re skating pretty well. I think we’re doing a lot of little things right. Unfortunately we gave up that goal but we just have to keep playing that way.”
Couturier said the Flyers didn’t want to play too cautiously in the third period.
“Especially against a good team like this, experienced,” Couturier said. “You don’t want to sit back and give them control. Just bring more pucks to the net and capitalize on our chances
>Vladar goes on IR
Goaltender Dan Vladar was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 14.
Vladar has been able to work out and skate, so that’s one positive development.
“He had a good day,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “That’s good. We’ll see over the next couple days how it reacts.”
Bobby Brink was activated to play on Monday night. Also, the Flyers put Lane Pederson in the lineup after he was called up from Lehigh Valley on Sunday.
>Pederson makes Flyers debut
Lane Pederson, just called up from the Phantoms on Sunday, made his Flyers debut. With Lehigh Valley, Pederson leads the roster in goals, 13; assists, 15; and points, 28.
Pederson centered the fourth line which included Carl Grundstrom and Garnet Hathaway.
>Pre-game strategy
“You have to be careful,” Tocchet said. “The last 10 days have been tough. Before that we were OK. But you have to stop the slide. We just have to put in a smart effort to give ourselves a chance. You can’t blow by piles, you can’t give up two-on-ones.
>Too many penalties
Tocchet has been harping on the Flyers’ penchant for taking penalties, particularly ones which aren’t crucial to play outside the Flyers’ defensive zone.
As of Monday morning, the Flyers were averaging 10.8 penalty minutes per game, which ranks fourth in the NHL.
>Short shots
The road trip continues with a stop at Utah on Wednesday night. . .Defenseman Hunter McDonald, just called up from Lehigh Valley, and Nic Deslauriers were the Flyers scratches.
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