Travis Konecny will have a little extra motivation tonight vs. the Canucks. For a couple of reasons.
Looking for offense, head coach Dave Hakstol will shift Konecny to his natural right wing position on Claude Giroux's top line. That's quite the leap. From healthy scratch two weeks ago to the top line, centered by one of the league's top playmakers. But Konecny is not fazed by his promotion.
"At this point, obviously it's still Claude Giroux, but he's my teammate now and it's been half the season so far, so it's just another opportunity to play with another player on the team," Konecny said after Thursday's optional morning skate.
"Just make sure I get to open space. He finds guys in the right areas, so as long as I can get him the puck and do my part in battling, compete down low to give him the time and space, then I just gotta give him that."
Hakstol first toyed with the move at practice Wednesday, hinting at "a change or two" to spark the Flyers' ailing offense. Since the team's 10-game win streak was snapped on Dec. 17, the team has stumbled to a 2-6-3 record, averaging just 1.73 goals per game. It's no coincidence the Flyers' tumble down the standings began just as their offense fell into a rut.
"It's not necessarily about getting Travis going," Hakstol said. "He's playing pretty well, he's playing hard. I think he's going through the typical ups and downs of a young player. Especially now, we're getting to a little tougher time in the year. I think his effort and his play has been pretty good.
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"Just over the last 10 games, we haven't had the production that we want. We haven't had the results that we want. So with a little bit of caution from bouncing all over the place, we're gonna keep working to find combinations that can get us consistently back on the right track."
At the peak of the win streak, the Flyers were soundly in playoff position with a nine-point cushion. Now, the Florida Panthers are just two points back of overtaking the second wild card spot from the orange and the black.
"It's the way you gotta deal with things in hockey," Konecny said of the slump. "The moment you get down on yourself is when things start getting harder.
"That's the hard part, is we're playing good hockey at certain parts of the game, its just a full 60 minutes is what we gotta play."
Hakstol is hoping a revamped top line can end the slump and revive the offense that scored the third-most goals in the league through Dec. 17.
Konecny isn't worried about switching positions midway through they year. It's his natural position. He has played right wing for the majority of his OHL junior career. Shifting back to the right side is all "muscle memory."
"It's just the other side of the rink. It's my forehand side, so it will probably be a bit easier for me coming down the wing. I guess we'll see how it goes.
"Going back to the right side, it's just like riding a bike."
The promotion isn't Konecny's only motivation, though. The winger will face his second cousin Bo Horvat Thursday.
The two were never that close growing up, but hockey has brought the duo together.
"Not too, too close, but I knew of him when he was growing up," Konecny said. "And then as we kind of got more and more into hockey, we started hanging out a little bit more. And I see him at the gym all the time and skate with him all the time so we became close over the years. … I wouldn't say it's like a text relationship back and forth, but we stay in touch and see each other almost everyday in the summer."
Horvat leads the Canucks with 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) and was just named to his first All-Star game. Playing on Vancouver's second line, the two should see plenty of each other tonight.
The cousins have never played together, but had the opportunity to face each other in the OHL.
"He was probably in his third year at that point, so he was a developed guy in the OHL, just giving me a hard time.
"No, I'm going to try not to chirp him," Konecny joked.
When the two aren't chirping on the ice, Konecny says they golf together in the summer.
And if Konecny and the Flyers can't stop their slump soon, they may be golfing sooner rather than later this summer.
Loose pucks
After Shayne Gostisbehere practiced with Nick Schultz Wednesday - a sign he may be a healthy scratch - it will be Radko Gudas who sits out vs. the Canucks.
Steve Mason will start in goal for the 27th time in 29 games.
