Konecny skating into St. Louis with a big smile
PHILADELPHIA >> Some players might head to an island resort. Others will jet back to the Great White North that they call home. Travis Konecny is going to St. Louis, and he only has himself to blame.
The Flyers have hit a just-pastmidseason vacation and jetted away from Wells Fargo Center Tuesday night with what probably ranks as their most impressive defensive performance of the season.
Not only was it their first shutout, but they shut down old friends Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and limited the Pittsburgh Penguins to 19 shots on goal in a 3-0 triumph. It was only the second time the Penguins have been blanked on the scoreboard this year, and their 19 shots was their second-lowest total of the season.
It was also some sweet motivation for Konecny, the only guy on the club who will continue working this week as the NHL heads to its All-Star weekend in the Land of the Arch.
Konecny won’t be complaining about the itinerary.
“A win feels good,” he said, “but it feels even better against these guys.”
As usual, Konecny played a large role in the outcome. The 22-year-old top-line right winger not only assisted on a James van Riemsdyk goal in the second period, he was part of a stunning, perfectly scripted effort that enabled veteran backup goalie Brian Elliott to get one of the easier of his 39 career shutouts.
Then again, it did come against the Penguins, who came in with six wins in their previous seven games and are heading for a 10-day break, too.
Only they’re in more of a mood to get away.
“They’ve been playing great hockey, and we shut them down tonight,” Konecny said. Asked if that was proof they can play with anyone, he added, “Oh yeah, we knew that. It was just that one road swing that kind of set us back a little bit.”
That was the post-Christmas road trip that saw the Flyers go a dismal 1-4-1 and fall into the nether-regions of the Eastern Conference standings. But they rebounded with five victories in seven games to hit the break at 27-17-6 (60 points). It might still leave them on the periphery of playoff positioning, but as Alain Vigneault said earlier
Tuesday, “We’re right where we want to be.”
Perhaps that best describes the state of Konecny, who will head to St. Louis (oh, boy!) with a fresh shave and a haircut, explaining it wasn’t the event that moved him to get groomed but rather his mother.
Whatever works. Clean shaven or not, Konecny has been one of the Flyers’ steadiest players, and no longer just in an offensive sense. Then again, he is tied with Sean Couturier at the top of the team production charts with 43 points, including a team-leading 17 goals.
“He’s always had that confident swagger to him,” said van Riemsdyk, whose seasonal struggles essentially ended with his promotion to the top line a few games ago with Konecny and Claude Giroux. “He has some experience now.
He’s been through three seasons and coming into this year he has all the contract stuff taken care of. So you feel more set and comfortable in your skin.
“So he’s taken on a bigger role this year and done a really good job for us.”
As a result, Konecny has bloomed into a third-year NHL All-Star.
“It’s pretty special,” Konecny said of the selection. “Definitely something I’ve never thought of. It pretty much just hoping (to) make the NHL one day and then trying to get yourself onto a roster and earn a spot and stay there. After that you’re kind of where you want to be and what you’ve dreamed of, but I never thought of being in an All-Star Game until I was selected.”
Well worth a haircut at the very least.