VOORHEES, NJ – All signs of Saturday morning skateboarding point to the 2019-20 Flyers scorer and top scorer on the bench for tonight’s game against the Islanders at the Wells Fargo Center.
Travis Konecny was not in any power play unit in practice, as he stood aside and skated with the other apparent scratches (Robert Hagg, Nate Prosser and Brian Elliott) after the morning session.
Samuel Morin, the club’s 13th striker who has yet to play a game this season, led the team’s post-workout stretches. Usually, when a player leads stretches, there is some kind of meaning to that. In addition, teammates often hit with sticks or cheer during that time, depending on the reason, but it was a very calm and moderate Saturday due to Konecny’s circumstances appearing to be out of the team.
Pre-match media availability for coach Alain Vigneault is scheduled for 4:45 pm Eastern Time. We will know more before the release of the record (7:00 pm ET / NBCSP).
Konecny did not have a shot on goal and had two awards in 17:33 minutes of the Flyers’ 3-1 win on Thursday over the Devils. He played only 4:20 in the third period and played for about 30 seconds in the final five minutes of the game. After the game, Vigneault was dissatisfied and perplexed by the performance of his two front lines in the first two periods.
Getting Morin to play on a consecutive set would be one thing, but doing so at the expense of Konecny’s squad placement says something. This is the Flyers’ first game against the team that eliminated them in Game 7 of the second round of the Stanley Cup 2020 Playoffs.
Unless Konecny is physically shaken, and it doesn’t look like he is considering that he participated in the practice and stayed for extra work, this is a strong message sent by Vigneault nine games in the 2020-21 season. Konecny was an All-Star last season and led the Flyers in goals (24) and points (61) in 66 games. The 23-year-old has five goals, three assists and a plus-5 mark in the first eight games of the season.
The message would not only be sent to Konecny, but also to the entire Flyers squad. Despite the 5-2-1 start, the Flyers were defeated in seven of their eight games, with five of them by double-digit margins. Last season, the Flyers allowed the least number of NHL pitches per game.
Philippe Myers is due to return on Saturday night with a fractured rib. He skated next to Travis Sanheim and looks good to go. Carter Hart will start on the net, while Brian Elliott is expected to play his second consecutive match on Sunday.
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