Young pair may sit again

VOORHEES, N.J. >> Youth might indeed be wasted on the young but for the Flyers, at least practice time isn’t being wasted there.

Two Flyers with a combined age that barely surpasses Mark Streit’s 39 years stayed out on the ice longer than any teammate Friday, but that only means they likely won’t be on the ice at all Saturday, when the Los Angeles Kings come in for a matinee visit at Wells Fargo Center.

That they happen to be two of the Flyers’ most talented players of any age, too, should raise a few eyebrows.

Rookie forward Travis Konecny and sophomore defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere will likely be slated for spectator status for a second straight game Saturday.

No one is happy about it, no matter how positive a spin they

might be trying to put on it.

“You’ve got to make something out of a negative and turn it into a positive,” Gostisbehere said when asked if he understood the possibility of being benched again. “I’m getting extra work in (at practice), working on the (defensive) side of things. You know, it sucks that TK’s out, too. But he’s a really skilled forward and he’s a fast guy to be working with right now. It sucks that we’re out and of course we don’t want to be out, but we’ve got to battle our way back into the lineup.

“Nothing’s a given. That’s what’s going to be ingrained in our minds.”

At the very least, they seem to be paying their appropriate penance for earning healthy-scratch status. By the time Konecny and Gostisbehere struggled off the ice to their locker room stalls, most of their teammates had departed the Skate Zone building altogether Friday.

You could say they did enough on-ice work for two days, which is likely going to be the case.

Although Dave Hakstol wouldn’t confirm that both young players would be scratched again against the Kings, he hinted strongly that would be the case.

Gostisbehere and Konecny were held out of Thursday night’s impressive 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, in which the Flyers held the Canadiens to 16 shots on goal, season lows for both teams.

As usual, they fell behind early, the Montreal game marking the 34th time in 52 games this season that the Flyers allowed the first goal. But they shut the Habs down the rest of the way. They scored a tying goal on a power play, and then steadily took control.

It was a playoff-style performance that Hakstol will almost certainly reward by not making any changes. Right? “Nobody’s different than anybody else. We’re working to win hockey games here,” Hakstol said. “Ghost and TK were out of the lineup last night but they’re a big part of things. They need to be a big part of things as we continue on through the next couple of months.

“They’re guys that were out for good reasons yesterday. Our team played well. And I’m leaning toward a similar lineup for tomorrow.” Right. Sure. Of course. Not that anybody’s happy about it.

“I’m happy with those two kids,” general manager Ron Hextall said. “There are learning curves, though, with young players, that older players have been through, and they’re going through some ups and downs right now.

“Sitting out the young guys, I don’t like it, they don’t like it, Hak doesn’t like it. Nobody necessarily likes it. But it’s what the coaching staff has deemed the right thing now, so I’m fine with it.

“There are learning curves as you go along and the young guys will learn from it.”

If all goes according to that plan, Konecny will be a healthy scratch for the third time in a season in which he’s scored seven goals and collected 22 points. His minus-4 rating isn’t bad for a rookie on a generally minus team.

Gostisbehere, on the other hand, appears to be a different player, at least from a statistical standpoint. He has four goals and 21 points and a minus-19 rating in 48 games.

Promoted in November last season, he went on to assume the top powerplay quarterback role. He wound up with 17 goals and 46 points in 64 games. That set up “The Ghost” as an award winner; he was presented with the “Pro Athlete of the Year” award Friday night at the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association’s annual dinner.

He arrived early for interviews. There wasn’t necessarily a reason to leave early if he didn’t want to, for he likely will be Ha(c) ked from the lineup Saturday.

“My perspective is the defensive side of things,” Gostisbehere said. “I don’t think they’re ever going to worry about the offensive side of things. That stuff will come. But the ‘D’ side of things is something that we need to look upon and figure it out, because there are definitely holes in that part of my game. So the quicker I figure those things out the better it will be for my game and for the team.”

••• Expect Michal Neuvirth to be back in net against the Kings after two solid outings since returning from the most recent of countless career injuries.

That’s the one little bugaboo that has dominated what otherwise could have been a stable career as an NHL starter.

“You think about these things sometimes but you battle through and you try to stay positive and you work hard off the ice when you’re hurt,” Neuvirth said. “Sometimes you work more than when you’re playing. So I was working the hardest I could and I’m happy to be back in the lineup and I feel real good about my game right now.”