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Flyers Roll Past Rangers, Konecny, Injuries, Flyers 5K, USS Murtha and More |
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QUICK HITS: OCTOBER 7, 2016
1) Trailing the New York Rangers 2-1 after two periods, the visiting Philadelphia Flyers broke loose for three goals in the final stanza to skate off with a 4-2 win in preseason action at Madison Square Garden. The Flyers received goals from Mark Streit, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek (power play) and Travis Konecny. After allowing a leaky deflection goal by Pavel Buchnevich early in the game, Michal Neuvirth settled in and went on to stop 24 of 26 shots to earn the win in goal.
The Flyers (4-2-1) conclude preseason play on Saturday in Boston.
2) Konecny now has six points (three goals, three assists) in the preseason. Every game he's played, he's created offensive opportunities for himself and for a variety of different linemates.
After the game, Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol told the media who made the trip to New York that he has been pleased overall with Konecny's play, and the main thing the coaching staff has worked on with him has been in taking fewer low-percentage risks with the puck -- things that highly skilled players can often get away with in junior hockey but rarely work at the NHL level, and often lead to opposition counterattacks. Hakstol said that Konecny has been catching on quickly to the adjustments.
"That's the way he plays the game. He's got a mentality and an ability to read a play and make some things happen. We talked to him earlier in the week, we wanted him to do that, but there are certain times you have to live for the next play and there are certain times you can be in attack mode. I think he's doing a better job at some of his decision making," Hakstol said.
In order to give Konecny an opportunity to continue to work on his overall game, specifically his two-way awareness, Hakstol started him on left wing of a line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Dale Weise on Thursday. Despite playing sparingly in the first 30 minutes of the game, Konecny went on to make a major impact.
3) Ivan Provorov has also continued to handle every challenge thrown his way and to continue to make a remarkably smooth adaptation to the NHL game. He continued to make strong reads and take good angles on his checks in Thursday's game as he pulled down 21:52 of ice time. He has always had good poise but is subtly making his retrievals, puck clears and outlet passes at a slightly quicker pace.
4) The Flyers announced on Thursday that Scott Laughton will miss three to four weeks with a lower-body injury (suspected to be a foot injury) sustained at practice on Wednesday. Brandon Manning is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The Flyers still have several roster decisions to make, including whether to put Laughton on long-term injured reserve and to work everything within the salary cap depending on whether the team ends up with 22 or 23 players on the active roster plus two players on injured reserve for opening night.
5) Brad Marsh, who serves as the Flyers Alumni Association president as well as the Flyers director of community development, will be among the Flyers Alumni participating in a deck hockey game at Penn's Landing aboard a US Navy warship, USS Murtha, on Friday afternoon.
6) The annual Flyers 5K is on Sunday at 9 a.m. ET. Online registration is closed, but day-of-race registration will begins at 8 a.m. at the Wells Fargo Center complex.
Competitive and amateur runners, as well as walkers are invited to participate. Other participants include Dave Hakstol, assistant coach Ian Laperriere, various Flyers Alumni, and the Flyers Wives.
All participants will receive a participation medal, a Flyers 5K dry fit t-shirt, and a running bib with racing chip. The top male and female runners in each of four age groups will be awarded a pair of tickets for a Flyers 2016-17 regular season game. Proceeds from the race benefit Flyers Charities.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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