Travis Konecny Itching to Snap 19-game Goal Drought Vs. Capitals

VOORHEES, N.J. - Travis Konecny goes into his 35th NHL game tonight against the Washington Capitals with the same attitude he's had for the previous 34.

Go out and try to make something happen for himself and his linemates and if nothing happens there, so long as his team is winning, all is fine.

The Flyers' smallish rookie - listed taller and heavier - he's about 5-foot-8, 170-some pounds - and takes a pounding on the ice.

He got rocked by Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis late into Monday's 2-1 shootout loss to Nashville. He relaxed at a whistle for an offside simultaneous to the hit.

Konecny remained on the bench missing a few shifts after the hit until overtime.

"I got my bell rung pretty good," he said Wednesday. "It was a good hit. I was more frustrated that I put myself in that positon to get hit. I knew it was close and the game was tied.

"Nothing I could have done but get [the puck] deep at that point. There was no play … I was just cutting into the middle and make something out of nothing."

Konecny is getting a tad antsy to score a goal. His last marker was Nov. 11 at Toronto in Game 15. Since then, he's gone 19 games without a goal, although he has had some very good chances.

"A 10-game win streak - that is the only way I can look at it," Konecny said. "It doesn't matter if I don't have goals if guys are playing really good. I'm not upset about my games. I am getting chances.

"If I wasn't getting opportunities, then maybe I would questions myself. Maybe I can bear down a little more. Make sure I give myself the best opportunities to score."

Konecny had three shots against Nashville. What he probably could be doing is shooting the puck more, even though his assignment these days is actually to be the setup man on left wing for centerman Brayden Schenn and right wing Wayne Simmonds.

"If you'd ask him, he'd say he's a playmaker first," coach Dave Hakstol said. "There's a combination there. He shoots the puck very well. Putting pucks to the net when you have the opportunity is important."

Konecny doesn't deny the playmaker part.

Hakstol has not put an ounce of pressure on the rookie to increase his offense. That's not the way it works with this team. Any advice though?

"Just continue to work on his complete game," Hakstol said he told him. "His complete game up and down the rink. Every night he is getting opportunities. This is a hard league to score in as a young guy. He has to work through that side of it."

During his goal drought, Konecny has 39 shots in 19 games. That's barely two a game. Compare that to someone like Jakub Voracek, who is third in the NHL with 120 shots, an average of over 3.5 per game.

"I need to shoot the puck more but my pass-first mentality is definitely in my head all the time," he said. "I try to be an offensive player. It doesn't have to be narrowed down to playmaker or shooter. It can be both."

And if he's being worn down a bit by the hits he's taking, Konecny says that isn't the case. Washington is a big club, so he's going to have some size mismatches tonight.

"It doesn't matter who you are playing, there are going to be body checks out there," he said. "Some guys are bigger and some smaller. I got hit pretty good last game from smaller guys. Doesn't matter. There are ways to get around it and make space out there."

He also says he is not looking over for his shoulder, even after the kind of hit he took from Ellis, who is only slightly bigger than him - 5-10, 179 - but as a defenseman understands how to throw checks against oncoming forwards equal or larger than himself.

"There's no reason to look over your shoulder," Konecny said. "Everyone knows there is contact in the game. It's not something I am worried about when I go into the game. I don't even think about it."

For him, it's all about the work.

"We're playing well right now and everyone is going," Konecny said. "I have it keep it going. When you work hard as an individual and do what you can do for the team, success come along."

Loose pucks
This will be Sean Couturier's 15th game missed with a left knee injury. … Wayne Simmonds, who spent an hour in the training room after the Nashville game, is not injured. He was a bit banged up. … This will be the 20th consecutive game that Nick Schultz has been a healthy scratch. … Boyd Gordon will come back out of the lineup tonight and Dale Weise will go back in.

Projected Flyers Lineup
F: Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Jakub Voracek