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Philadelphia Flyers: Travis Konecny has been on a tear recently

By Benjamin Gabrych

PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 27: Travis Konecny #11 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his first period goal against the Ottawa Senators with his teammates on the bench on November 27, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 27: Travis Konecny #11 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his first period goal against the Ottawa Senators with his teammates on the bench on November 27, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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While the Philadelphia Flyers have struggled mightily as of late, losing six of their last seven games, Travis Konecny has been one of the lone bright spots on the team recently.

It’s pretty safe to say the Philadelphia Flyers have been flat out awful to finish the month of November. They are riding a two game losing streak coming into their next matchup against division rival Pittsburgh Penguins, and have lost six of their last seven games as noted above.

The front office is in the midst of some major changes after relieving Ron Hextall of his General Managerial duties on Monday and doing to same with Assistant General Manager Chris Pryor and Assistant Coach Gord Murphy on Wednesday. It’s about time we focus on some positives with the current team as it stands, and look no further than third year forward Travis Konecny.

Konecny got off to a slow start in terms of point production this season, posting one point in his first five games. He kept creating plenty of scoring chances, though, which couldn’t find their way into the back of the net. Konecny almost seemed snake-bitten on the offensive side of the puck, but has now turned it around since.

In his last five games, Konecny has netted seven points (3 Goals, 4 Assists) for the Flyers. He played a big part in forcing overtime in the loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring two goals in the failed comeback attempt.

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He has kept generating scoring chances, as well. Konecny currently leads the team in Scoring Chances-For percentage (SCF%) and Shots-For percentage (SF%), while also ranking third in Goals-For percentage and eighth in High Danger Scoring Chances For percentage in all situations among skaters who have played at least 50 minutes of time-on-ice according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

His SCF% and SF% both rank 15th among NHL players who have seen at least 100 minutes of ice-time. It’s clear he is among the best in the league in terms of scoring chances, but he dominates puck possession, too.

Konecny ranks 12th in Corsi-For percentage and 11th in Fenwick-For percentage in the NHL with 62.97% and 63.53% respectively. These numbers are also first among Flyers players, with Claude Giroux, Shayne Gostisbehere, and James van Riemsdyk being the only other skaters with above 60.00 percentages. The Flyers obviously perform better with Travis on the ice and it’s honestly pretty surprising he isn’t among the leaders on the team in terms of ice-time.

Head Coach Dave Hakstol has iced him for an average of just 15:45 minutes. That’s 11th on the team among skaters who have played at least 10 games this season, which is simply unacceptable. He is one of the best offensive players the Flyers have on the roster and there’s no reason why Hakstol shouldn’t trust him at this point in his career.

Next. Flyers loss vs Ottawa showed that Hextall isn't the only issue. dark

The Flyers will need Konecny’s talents now more than ever in hopes of turning their season around. They have a very tough next couple of games, starting with the Penguins on Saturday. Hopefully, we’ll see more of Konecny as the year goes on.

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