Travis Konecny Beats Himself Up Over Costly Mistake Vs. Carolina

VOORHEES, N.J. – He was benched in late December after being warned about trying to make fancy plays in tight areas and his improving on defensive responsibilities.

So you can imagine just how bad rookie Travis Konecny felt Tuesday after trying an ill-advised drop pass in his own end of the ice, a pass which Jordan Staal pounced on, then fed Sebastian Aho for a turnover goal.

It was one of many mishaps the Flyers displayed during a 5-1 thrashing by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Konecny said he spent some time after the game beating himself up over the play.

"That's something we've preached on," the 19-year-old forward said. "It's definitely not something we need going down the stretch. It can cost you games in the playoffs.

"The onus is on me for that one and I definitely don't like it. You live and you learn. I'm not going to keep dwelling on it, but I definitely know what I did. I made a mistake."

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What made it even worse was that Claude Giroux had a similar miscue on a poor passing attempt in the neutral zone which came back on the Flyers as another Aho goal, making it 2-0 near the end of that same period.

Two mistakes by the Flyers for two goals against. And the puck was on their sticks.

Those are the kind of plays that frustrate Dave Hakstol and his staff because the creation of the scoring chance was entirely on themselves and not the result of the other club's ability with the puck.

Hakstol said on Tuesday he felt the Flyers' "execution level" was largely responsible for the how shockingly awful they looked as a team.

"Coming into the game, we weren't ready, and we weren't as sharp as our opponent was," Hakstol said. "That's upon all of us. I'm at the top of that heap. I'll take the greatest amount of responsibility …"

From Konecny's standpoint, you have to wonder how he handles this moving forward. We haven't even tapped into the reservoir of talent this kid from London, Ont., has within him.

You don't want to discourage one of the few players on the roster who has some much raw upside in the skill department from making plays. Rookies make mistakes. It's part of the learning process.

"For me, it's always been my downfall of trying to make something out of every play," Konecny admitted. "Making those plays inside the defensive zone isn't what I can do in the NHL.

"I learned that last night. That was one of my first turnovers that turned directly into a goal off me. The light kinda shined in my eyes and woke me up a bit."

Konecny said Hakstol didn't chew him out about the turnover, but made sure he saw it on video at the team's morning prep where the Flyers go over the game tape from the night before.

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