Konecny Nets Hat Trick, Hart Stands Tall in Flyers Win

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Following the season-opening win on Wednesday, Travis Konecny said that a goal that was credited to him wasn't really his. It belonged to Oskar Lindblom. Soon after, the goal was changed.

After going through the postseason this summer without a goal, that number would follow Konecny into one more game. He erased it convincingly in the second game of the season.

Konecny recorded his first career hat trick, and Carter Hart backstopped the Flyers with 31 saves in a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Wells Fargo Center on Friday night.

The Penguins came out strong again to start the first, but took a pair of penalties that gave the Flyers extended power-play time. On the second end of a brief five-on-three, the Flyers cashed in with a perfect passing play.

Claude Giroux got the puck across to Jake Voracek, who put the puck to the side of the net for Konecny. This time, he did get his first goal of the season, burying the chance to make it 1-0 at 7:27.

Just under two minutes later, Konecny was on the board again. Nolan Patrick powered his way to the front of the net and Konecny was able to come in and put in the rebound off his skate to make it 2-0.

Just over two minutes after that, Ivan Provorov got on the board, jumping into the play and burying a shot after taking a feed from Voracek to make it 3-0 in a matter of 4:03.

That forced a goalie change for the Penguins, as Tristan Jarry exited after making three saves on six shots. Casey DeSmith came on in relief for his first appearance of the season. 

That sparked a turnaround for the Penguins, who went to the power play moments later. They struck for their first goal of the game as Sidney Crosby was able to stay with a play to the net and score on the backhand. Just 32 seconds later, the Penguins scored again as Jared McCann fired a shot that was stopped, but the rebound went right out to Brandon Tanev for his second goal of the season and just like that it was back to a one-goal game. 

The Penguins got a couple more chances on the power play before the period ended, but the margin remained one at the intermission. Shots through 20 minutes were 14-9 Pittsburgh.

The Flyers were also without Sean Couturier for the entire first period. He started the game on the ice for the opening face-off, played 45 seconds, then left and did not return. Alain Vigneault said after the game that Couturier will have an MRI on Saturday.

In the second period, the play remained sloppy for both sides. The Flyers spent a lot of time in their own zone and struggled with turnovers. As the period progressed, the Penguins also had a number of odd-man rushes going the other way.

Through two periods, the Penguins had a 24-13 lead in shots, but the score remained the same thanks to Hart, who stopped all 10 shots in the second.

For most of the third period, the play was relatively even and contained to the neutral zone, but when Nicolas Aube-Kubel took a penalty at 8:21. Hart stood tall again, helping the Flyers kill off the penalty and maintain the lead.

The Flyers got a power play at 10:47 and cashed in shortly after it expired. With the Penguins caught on a shorthanded rush, the Flyers advanced with a 3-on-1 as Jason Zucker exited the box. The Flyers made another great passing play with Konecny getting the payoff for his third goal to complete the hat trick with 7:07 to play.

With the Penguins net empty minutes later, Lindblom iced it with his second goal of the season with 2:08 to play.

Hart finished the game with 30 saves on 32 shots. DeSmith finished the game with 12 saves on 13 shots.

The Flyers get back on the ice on Monday night as they take on the Buffalo Sabres at 7:30 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Travis Konecny (1) PP (Jake Voracek, Claude Giroux) 7:27
• PHI Konecny (2) (Nolan Patrick, James van Riemsdyk) 9:26
• PHI Ivan Provorov (1) (Voracek, van Riemsdyk) 11:30
• PIT Sidney Crosby (2) PP (Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust) 12:59
• PIT Brandon Tanev (2) (Jared McCann, Mark Jankowski) 13:31

2nd Period

• No Scoring

3rd Period

• PHI Konecny (3) (Kevin Hayes, Giroux) 12:53
• PHI Oskar Lindblom (2) EN (Scott Laughton, Konecny) 17:52

Game Statistics