Travis Konecny Had Himself A Night As The Flyers Beat The Blue Jackets 5-3: Highlights - Insights - Observations

The Flyers wouldn't allow the same fate tonight however, as the Flyers youth dominated the score sheet and took advantage of a rookie filled lineup on the opposite bench.

1. The Return of «The Best One» Kevin Hayes:

First things first; you may not have heard, but the Flyers leading scorer, Kevin Hayes, was a healthy scratch against his former team last game. Tortorella was asked about Hayes' return tonight in his post game press conference and offered up a very detailed response and dissection of what he saw in Hayes' game tonight!

Let the alleged saga and speculation continue!

All kidding aside, Hayes had a little jump in his game tonight, despite not registering a point and looked sharp in the D zone.

2. First Career Shortie:

John Tortorella has leaned heavily on Travis Konecny this year and gave him an expanded roll as a penalty killer of late. Tuesday night, move paid dividends, as TK sniped the first short handed goal of his career against Danill Tarasov. On a broken play in the Flyers zone, Scott Laughton cleared the puck off the side boards and Konecny outraced the Blue Jackets rookie defenseman, Marcus Bjork, for the loose puck. Konecny faked and hesitated enough to free himself up a clean shot and made no mistake.

John Tortorella had high praise for TK following the game, regarding his effectiveness on the penalty kill, "I just think he's so good. I had Cam [Atkinson] for six years, and him and Cam are very similar. They anticipate so very well as a penalty killer. That's why they end up with scoring chances in those types of situations."

Tortorella failed to mention TK's ability to go coast-to-coast like butter on toast though!

Konecny finished the night with two goals on three shots, including the highlight reel game winner.

3. A Bold Strategy:

It is not unusual to leave the shooter for the goalie and deny the pass as a defenseman on a 2 on 1, but to completely concede the breakaway without making even the slightest play or fake on the puck carrier is a bold strategy and one that Ivan Provorov chooses every time.

Any coach watching game film would pick this out in a heartbeat and relay the message to their players. It is a decided advantage to know exactly what your opponent is going to do and Provorov never seems to vary from this option or even hints at taking the puck carrier. It is a conceded breakaway every time.

The defensive pairing of Provorov and Ristolainen were exposed on the first goal as well, as neither D picked Marchenko up in the slot for the easy tip.

Tortorella noticed the struggle tonight, as the pairing of Travis Sanheim and Tony DeAngelo received the top minutes, playing 25 minutes a piece, in comparison to Provorov and Risto logging just under 20 and 18 minutes respectively.

4. JVR - Frost - Tippett:

The confidence is growing in Morgan Frost's game, as he looks more poised, patient, and aggressive with the puck on his stick.

JVR and Tippett worked the cycle and Frost came up high in the zone to shake coverage. Cam York made a heads up play to float a soft pass to Frost, but kept back peddling to draw the coverage with him and free up ice for Frost. Frost did not hesitate to take advantage of the missed assignment annd drove the lane, beating Tarasov on a similar shot to Konecny's, just under the glove and off the hip.

Four minutes later, Tippet worked a defender up in the zone too and shook him at the blue line with a quick, aggressive spin. Tippett worked the puck below the goal line to Farabee and advanced to the hash mark for an easy give and go.

The newly formed line produced two goals and two assists in the 5-3 win and Frost wore the post game jersey.

5. Bam Bam Cam:

Cam York looks like an NHL defensman; the skating, edge work, stick handling, play making ability, vision, swagger, he just oozes the new age D vibe. York assisted on a pair of goals tonight and made multiple, clean tape-to-tape feeds that allowed easy zone exits and the Flyers to wheel through the neutral zone.

John Tortorella stated about York, "He's trying to seize it here" and also enthusiastically said the minors worked for York; calling out the criticism from the fan base and media for sending York down at the start of the season. (He still would have excelled and learned quickly in the NHL, at no detriment to the team, but that's just my humble opinion).

The emergence of York's play in the lineup can certainly give Flyers fans a glimmer of hope to what their future holds.

The Flyers play back to back on Thursday and Friday, prior to starting their Christmas holiday season and will be in tough in both games. Thursday the Flyers take on the high octane Toronto Maple Leafs and follow that up against the Metropolitan Division leading Carolina Hurricanes.