Even as an NHL All-Star, Flyers forward Travis Konecny had just as much fun being a fanboy

TORONTO — Travis Konecny will leave The Six with a lot of memories from his second NHL All-Star Game.

The Flyers forward and lone representative skated on Team MacKinnon alongside Colorado Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. He registered an assist and was able to spot his family and friends in the crowd.

But the thing that left a massive smile on his face is the special souvenir he’ll leave with — an autographed stick.

“I had seen it the last time I was here [at the All-Star Game in 2020],” said Konecny, who gave credit to Flyers manager of hockey communications Megan Kogut for acquiring some of the signatures. “I kinda watched the players do it and then they were doing it before the game today. I just didn’t really know how to go about it and I asked her to help me out and she did a good job.”

The stick, one of Konecny’s, is now littered with the signature of everyone, from celebrities to legend Wayne Gretzky to his teammates this weekend — like Pittsburgh Penguins rival Sidney Crosby.

“I chatted with him a bit so that was pretty cool,” Konecny said. “We had a good laugh, just being on the same team for once and not going at it.”

Crosby and Konecny didn’t share the ice during the three-on-three game that pitted Team MacKinnon against Team McDavid. The top points-getter for the Orange and Black skated alongside Seattle Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand and new Vancouver Canucks center, Elias Lindholm.

“We had a lot of fun with it,” said Konecny who grew up in Clachan, Ontario. “We found out right when we got to the bench that we were all going to be playing together. We kinda sat close to each other in the room so we had fun with it.”

Meeting and skating for the first time together, the trio seemed to have instant chemistry. On his first shift, he skated up the ice and fed Lindholm as he streaked to the net down the right side. Later in the game, Konecny regrouped out of the offensive zone before finding Lindholm and Bjorkstrand for a two-on-zero.

“It was fun. He’s a really good player and he found me a couple of times, just couldn’t put it in the net,” said Lindholm, before adding: “Last couple of seasons I think he’s found his game more and started focusing on scoring a lot of goals and helping the team that way. So, I think he’s done a tremendous job.”

Although he confessed he would “get the puck and just kinda panic, to be honest,” at the beginning of the game, Konecny settled in. On his second shift, with his team up 1-0, he carried the puck up before cutting to the middle, toe-dragged the puck and got off a good shot in tight that was ultimately stopped by Winnipeg Jets goalie Conor Helleybuck.

But then, he was on the ice for a goal by Columbus Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner, an offseason traning partner, to tie things up 1-1.

“We just had fun. We were just pretty laid back and when we got scored on early there we made sure that we tried to get one back,” Konecny said.

And they did.

Konecny got the puck and fed a pass to Bjorkstrand for a breakaway goal that beat former Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

“He was finding me out there. He can make plays and all that,” said Bjorkstrand, who added he’d much rather have Konecny on his team than not. He then added, “He’s a good player who plays hard and gets under guys’ skin, and at the same time he has a lot of skill and goals.”

Konecny finished the game with one assist and one shot on goal in 5 minutes, 57 seconds of ice time. In the end, despite going up 3-1 against Team McDavid, Team MacKinnon was facing Connor McDavid. He set up David Pastrňák for a 3-2 marker with 32 seconds left before scoring from the right post off a cross-crease pass by the Boston Bruins star with six seconds on the clock.

Team MacKinnon lost in the shootout but it doesn’t take away the experience for the 26-year-old in his second go-around as one of the NHL’s best.

“I just tried to soak it in a little bit more this time. Talked to a few more guys than I probably did last time. I just sat in the room last time, tried to mind my business,” said Konecny who played in 2020 as a 22-year-old. “It was just a great experience again, cool to be close to home, I saw some family last night. So it’s just been a lot of fun.”

Team Matthews topped Team McDavid, 7-4 in the final to win a $1 million prize, one which will go to the charity of their choice. The MVP of the All-Star Game was Auston Matthews of the hometown Toronto Maple Leafs. ... Bobrovsky robbed Mitch Marner right before the first-half buzzer of the final and Marner reciprocated by throwing his glove at him. ... Pastrňák seemed to love the boos he receives from the Scotiabank Arena fans and he played it up as he skated out for introductions. ... Team Matthews topped Team Hughes in a shootout in Game No. 2. ... Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who was booed Friday night during the All-Star Skills for his lackluster performance, encouraged the crowd to keep booing him before he took his shootout attempt for Team Hughes. He was stopped by New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin and the crowd cheered — and he waved to them after. Fantastic.

The Flyers head south for two practices before facing the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBCSN).