Headed into the early days of December, the Orange and Black face what is no doubt a tough road ahead. In fact, after Thursdays game versus the Blue Jackets, they play five straight on the road. Coming into Wednesday Nights slate of games, four of those five teams rank in the top five in goals per game. Over the next week and a half, its quite evident offense will be needed. Its only fitting that Flyers winger Travis Konecny is beginning to breakout on the top line with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier when the Flyers need it most.
The 21 year old winger no doubt had a rough start. Konency scored only two goals in twelve games in the month of October. Meanwhile, it seemed as if the man they call “TK” was hitting the post at least once a game. The puck just wasn’t bouncing his way. We’ve seen him look up to the hockey gods more times than you can count on your fingers. The month of October can be categorized as a month of frustration for the young winger. He scored only two goals and tallied only five points.
Last season, the first few months were brutal for Konecny offensively. He scored only four goals in the first three months of the season and recorded a total of thirteen points. Its something you kind of saw coming though considering it was only his second season in the NHL.
In the second half of the season, the talented winger came alive. He scored 19 goals in a span of 39 games. Now that’s the kind of production Flyers fans were looking for. Now in his third season with the Flyers, you expect that offensive production to start just a bit sooner. Well Flyers fans, you got your wish.
As the month of November came around, Konecny stuck with his game. Afterall, eventually pucks will find the back of the net when you have playmakers like G and Coots on your line. Sure enough, the hockey gods answered the 21 year olds prayers as he potted five goals and totaled ten points in twelve games in the month of November and already has one goal in one game played here in December.
The offensive presence of # 11 is critical to the Flyers success. With guys like Nolan Patrick, Oskar Lindblom, and even throw in Shayne Gostisbehere going through a funk, the Flyers need someone to pick up the slack. Everyone says defense wins games but that’s really not the way it works anymore. This league is made up of elite goal scorers. You don’t see those 1-0 games much anymore. You need to score goals in this league to win games and without multiple offensive weapons that will not happen. If Konecny continues to produce the way he did in the month of November though, expect positive results for the guys in Orange and Black and hopefully lots of wins.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
