Gritty threw a big hat on the ice to celebrate Travis Konecny’s hat trick.
The question is, do Flyers need a bigger hat to cover a gap the size of Sean Couturier in their lineup?
Konecny scored three goals on Friday night when the Flyers completed a two-game sweep against the Penguins with a 5-2 win at the Wells Fargo Center. They did it without Couturier, who left the game with less than two minutes of action with an apparent shoulder injury and never came back.
Meanwhile, the Flyers have a pair of 2-0-0 matches under coach Alain Vigneault. The last time the Flyers opened 2-0-0 in consecutive seasons was in 1997-98 and 1998-99.
Carter Hart was sharp and Oskar Lindblom closed the game with an empty net goal.
Time will tell if the night will end up being bittersweet because of Couturier’s plot.
• At this point, everyone knows that Konecny has not scored a goal in 16 games in the 24-team NHL return-to-game tournament. When that happens to the team’s top scorer in the regular season, it will be highlighted and commented on … a lot.
Konecny understood why; he is an All-Star now, one of the big boys expected to produce.
He didn’t sweep it under the rug and slip into the off-season.
“I didn’t bring my best and it obviously stayed with me for a few weeks,” said Konecny during the camp. “I let it settle, let it bother me and used it to fuel myself for the off season.”
Konecny did not let the goal drought last. He led the way on Friday night, which was great without Couturier in his line. The hat-trick was the first of his NHL career and he finished with four points.
• The Flyers scored seven goals in three games against the Penguins last season. They had 11 against the Penguins in these two opening games of the 2020-21 season.
• The Flyers gave Hart a 3-0 lead in the first period. At the end of the opening verse, the advantage was reduced to 3-2.
Hart was huge the rest of the way. He made 31 saves on Wednesday night and finished with 31 again on Friday night. The Flyers were not very good in the second period and Hart saved them.
• Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk and Jakub Voracek had two assists each. Ivan Provorov’s goal gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead in the first period.
• Flyers’ power play was 1 in 6.
• Shayne Gostisbehere remained unavailable because of the COVID protocol. The 27-year-old has not trained with the Flyers since last Friday.
• The next one for the Flyers is the first of eight consecutive sets this season. They welcome Sabers to the Wells Fargo Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (7:30 pm ET / NBCSP) and Tuesday (7:00 pm ET / NBCSP).
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