VOORHEES, N.J. — From the start of December to almost mid-January, Travis Konecny was nearly a goal-per-game player.
The Flyers' energizer bunny put up 17 goals over 19 games, a torrid stretch that was punctuated by a hat trick against the Capitals. In that span from Dec. 1 to Jan. 11, only one NHL player had scored more goals than Konecny: David Pastrnak.
But since the hats rained down at the Wells Fargo Center, Konecny has gone 10 straight games without a goal, his longest drought of the season. Part of why it feels notably long is because of Konecny's success this season. He has been such a force and everyday producer for the Flyers, which has inevitably raised the bar.
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Konecny himself figured there'd be a cooling-off period. Now it's about managing it.
"I knew eventually it was going to come," he said Thursday after the Flyers' optional morning skate. "I said it all along, I was getting the bounces and eventually it was going to stop and someone else will. It's about getting our team back on track, getting myself back to playing the right way and just don't worry about that stuff, it'll all take care of itself."
The 25-year-old is just one goal away from setting a new career high of 25. With 49 points, he's on pace to break his career high of 61 from his 2019-20 All-Star season. More importantly for his team, Konecny rekindling his scoring touch would help it stay near the periphery of the playoff picture. The Flyers would like to keep playing some meaningful games through February.
Last month, John Tortorella noted how Konecny's energy is "contagious." Sometimes, naturally, that energy comes in the form of confrontation with the opposition.
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"Maybe that style more in the past couple of years," Konecny said with a laugh. "Now I try as best I can just to stay focused on the game and get myself engaged in other ways. But if that's what it comes down to, I'll be ready for it."
Tortorella knows how important Konecny's production is to his club, which ranks 27th in the NHL with 2.75 goals per game.
"I think he's getting chances," the head coach said Thursday. "It's always a concern when one of your top goal scorers — on a team that, for a lot of this year, struggled to score — isn't scoring.
"Not a concern, but certainly hoping that something good happens for him to get him going. I think he's very close."
With Connor McDavid and the Oilers in town Thursday (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP), the Flyers' schedule doesn't lighten up.
Not a bad time for Konecny to find the back of the net again.
"The biggest thing with T.K. for me is him getting in his own head," Tortorella said. "He's such a competitor and a guy that wants to help the team so badly and knows we need his scoring that he'll wrap himself up in a ball. I haven't seen it; I think he's come close to it a few times along the way, but that's just who he is. That's what I want to coach — just continue doing some of the other things you need to do in the game until something happens for you.
"When he was scoring all of those goals, a lot of good things were happening for him, too. Some goals were going in that maybe shouldn't have gone in. It happens that way. When we start playing a really hard part of our schedule right from here until the end of the year because of the intensity of the game, hopefully he gets on another streak for us."
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