Travis Konecny, Kevin Hayes benchings show that no Flyer is immune to John Tortorella’s brand of accountability
On Sunday night, Tortorella showed it's his way or the highway by benching his two stars for the third period against the Sharks.
Deep in the pit of despair that was the Flyers’ 2021-22 season, after their 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on March 13, a deflated interim coach Mike Yeo bemoaned the players for playing the way they “wanted to play” instead of playing “winning hockey.” He lamented the turnovers and the free ice — a reoccurring trend of the season — that allowed Montreal to tie the game late on a shorthanded goal.
So, he issued a warning to the Flyers, from the young, inexperienced players to the veterans.
» READ MORE: Method to the madness: Inside John Tortorella’s plan to rebuild the Flyers
“Take ice time away,” Yeo said of how he planned to send his message home. “Put guys on the fourth line. Scratch guys if we have to. I don’t even know if we have enough [players]. Call guys up. These are veteran players we’re going to have to do it to, too.”
Even mid-thought, Yeo hesitated in his threat, acknowledging that the team’s unrelenting injury woes stressed his ability to make drastic personnel changes. Yeo then walked his comments back two days after the game, claiming that the first two periods “weren’t that bad.” The Flyers maintained the status quo leading up to the trade deadline, shipped off three players including longtime captain Claude Giroux via trade in March, and lost 15 of their final 21 games.
But as it relates to this season’s Flyers, coach John Tortorella isn’t showing any regard for the status quo.
Down 2-0 to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night after two periods, Tortorella stapled the team’s leading goal scorer Travis Konecny and points leader Kevin Hayes to the bench for the entire third period. Winger James van Riemsdyk had exited after injuring his left hand while blocking a shot during the first period, so the Flyers leaned on nine forwards to finish the contest.
Tortorella opted to keep his precise reasoning behind benching Konecny and Hayes “in the room” following the Flyers’ 3-0 loss. But in the locker room just moments after the final horn sounded, Konecny and Hayes made it known that they weren’t benched because Tortorella was thrilled with their execution through 40 minutes.
Both Konecny and Hayes were on the ice for the Sharks’ first goal of the night, and Konecny was also on the ice for their second. Seven minutes into the second period, a Hayes offensive-zone, power-play giveaway turned into an odd-man rush and a scoring chance for the Sharks. Two minutes later, a Konecny defensive-zone giveaway turned into a goal for Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, the team’s first of the night.
“He’s been honest about that since Day 1 of camp,” Konecny said. “Doesn’t matter who you are, you’ve got to play the right way. If we weren’t doing the right things tonight, and I know I was out [on the ice] for two goals. I had some mistakes tonight. It’s his decision.”
» READ MORE: Philadelphia gives Oskar Lindblom, former Flyer and cancer survivor, a hero’s welcome home
With Konecny and Hayes out of the picture for the third period, Tortorella threw the kitchen sink at the Sharks. He reconfigured the Flyers’ power play, utilizing Wade Allison, Zack MacEwen, Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov, and Lukáš Sedlák on the second unit (MacEwen, Sanheim, and Sedlák are not power-play regulars).
Although it’s impossible to speculate on how the Flyers would have looked if Konecny and Hayes weren’t absent for the final 20 minutes, the team arguably played its best period of the night without them. The Flyers won the puck-possession game (22 shot attempts to the Sharks’ eight) and created three high-danger scoring chances, their most in a single period, according to Natural Stat Trick.
“I think, in the third period, that was more of our style,” Konecny said. “We were coming at them. We were getting pucks in and working hard. So, if there’s one thing you can take from [the game], it’s the third.”
Generally speaking, the concept of Tortorella benching a player or limiting their minutes isn’t shocking. Winger Hayden Hodgson played just 4 minutes, 26 seconds in the Flyers’ season opener against the New Jersey Devils and was placed on waivers the following day. Tortorella’s willingness to discipline his veterans, especially two of the few offensive-minded, bona fide NHL players at his disposal, comes with far more intrigue.
» READ MORE: Flyers coach John Tortorella finds plenty for his team to work on following film study
No, Tortorella wasn’t loose-lipped with his exact motivation for benching Konecny and Hayes. But the overarching message from the start of the Tortorella era has been clear: If any player wants to be a part of the solution, he can’t be a part of the problem.
Giving away the puck like it’s Halloween candy is being a part of the problem. Defying Tortorella’s defense-first vision is being a part of the problem. Just six games into the regular season, Konecny and Hayes are more than capable of being parts of the solution, just as they have been at other times this year.
The Flyers want to play the brand of winning hockey that eluded them last season. This time around, players will be held accountable on the path toward that goal.