With just six games remaining in the Philadelphia Flyers‘ season, and 15 days left in the NHL season, the clock is ticking. The Flyers are currently in a playoff spot, but teams are catching up and there is no margin for error. If the Flyers want to make the playoffs, they have to win most of their games.
Travis Konecny can provide the sort of spark Philadelphia needs. With 31 goals and 65 points in 70 games, he is all-but-guaranteed to lead the team in points for the third straight season. To clinch a playoff berth, Konecny will have to be at his best.
A New Leader Needs to Take Charge for Couturier
With Sean Couturier sidelined for the next two games due to a shoulder injury, the team will be without their captain. Konecny, who has been with the Orange and Black since 2016-17, is one of the alternate captains for the club will be relied on to step up and rally his troops.
The Flyers are on a five-game losing streak with three teams within two points of either matching or surpassing them.
This isn’t an indictment of Couturier’s leadership, but he only has one point (a secondary assist) in his last 15 games (although he has been cursed with limited ice time by head coach John Tortorella.)
Related: Flyers’ John Tortorella Is a Double-Edged Sword
When a team’s leader isn’t playing well, it can impact the entire team. The Flyers have just five wins in that 15-game stretch, but it will have to be all hands on deck from here on out and everyone must contribute, especially Konecny.
Flyers Are at Their Best When Konecny Produces
For the Flyers, a team that ranks just 24th in NHL scoring, they need every tally they can get from Konency. They are 13-5-6 in games when he scores a goal, which would make the, on pace for a 109-point season for the team over 82 games. When he doesn’t score they are 23-24-5, which would make them a contender for a pretty solid draft prospect instead.
Konecny’s production can make or break the Flyers, a team with very few stars. His ceiling is higher than almost anyone else’s.
Konecny almost always scores off the rush, and he loves to shoot low glove side. His tendencies should be obvious to any NHL goaltender, but he still finds a way to light the lamp.
The good news is that the Flyers have some pretty favourable matchups to finish the season. Five of their six final opponents are outside the playoffs, with one, the Washington Capitals, being right in the mix. Generally, the best teams are good at defending the rush, while the bad ones are not, and this will work in the Flyers’ favor.
The weaker teams, like the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets (who the Flyers face in their next two games) are not good at defending the rush. As a result, the Flyers have had success against them, with a combined 3-1-1 record, averaging 3.6 goals per game – considerably higher than their 2.9 over the full season.
Konecny has six goals in those games. We know he can produce against these teams, and he will have to take advantage of the latest opportunity.
Konecny’s Recent Performances
Looking at Konecny’s recent performances, his point production has remained around a point per game since returning from injury on March 7 (11 total points in 12 contests since then), but he only has four goals in that span and only one during their losing streak.
Konecny can’t be relied on for everything, but the Flyers don’t have enough talent to make a genuine push for the postseason if their best player isn’t their best player. Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett have been the team’s top forwards recently, and if anything, they are why the team hasn’t fallen out of a playoff spot entirely despite the losses.
Konecny might still be suffering from his injury, especially since he missed two weeks and hasn’t been playing at the same level since his return. His involvement offensively has been diminished – he seems more like a complement to his lines rather than the play-driver. He has to take his game to the next level.
It’s a lot of pressure to put the Flyers’ playoff chances on Konecny’s shoulders, but he is their best player, and he must unlock something new in himself. With the finish line in sight, just a few games of excellence could be what gets the Flyers to the postseason.