Travis Konecny and Cam York both questionable for Saturday; Joel Farabee talks early struggles

Mired in a 1-5-1 slump, the Flyers now face the possibility of trying to turn things around without one of their top wingers and defensemen.

Travis Konecny and Cam York were not on the ice for practice Friday at the Flyers Training Center. Maintenance days come and go but it is concerning with Thursday being an off day after back-to-back losses against the Washington Capitals.

According to coach John Tortorella, Konecny is day-to-day with a “body” injury; he would not confirm whether it is an upper or lower-body injury. The feisty winger led all forwards in ice time Wednesday at 21 minutes, 26 seconds. He got the Flyers on the board with a power-play goal in the second period; he has three goals and four points this season.

On Friday, Tortorella credited Konecny and linemates Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov with helping the Flyers find their game in the second half of Wednesday’s 6-3 loss.

» READ MORE: The Flyers are struggling mightily at five-on-five. A lack of chemistry and line continuity is part of the problem.

“I thought when Coots, TK, and Mich had a couple of shifts, I think it even started in the second period a little bit, I just think some good things happen offensively,” he said. “I think it gets contagious. It’s crazy how it works. You just never know when something’s got to start feeling better for other people, even watching other people [make] good offensive plays.”

As for York, “I don‘t know,” Tortorella said. The blueliner took a hard hit from Nic Dowd along the boards with 3:01 left in the game Wednesday and did not return.

If he cannot go, it leaves a gaping hole on defense. York leads the team in average time on ice (22:56); he left the game Wednesday after logging more than 22 minutes. Partnered with Travis Sanheim, the two typically play against the opposition’s top lines and each has a plus-minus of minus-2 — the best among the five defensemen who have played every game. (Only two full-timers on the roster have a better plus-minus.)

According to Natural Stat Trick, Sanheim and York have played more than 100 minutes at five-on-five together. When they are on the ice, the Flyers have more shot attempts (51.7%) and 56.3% more scoring chances than their opponents. And the majority of those chances are from high-danger spots. Individually, York has 17 shot attempts at five-on-five and has scored two goals.

Speaking to The Inquirer on Friday, Joel Farabee was blunt when asked where he sees his game right now.

“Not very good. I feel like my play has been pretty [expletive],” the winger said.

The season is just seven games old but Farabee has struggled to find his footing. A guy who has hit the 20-goal mark twice in his young career, including a career-high 22 goals last season, Farabee has one goal and three points and is minus-8 this season. He played a season-low 8:58 against the Capitals in Washington, D.C., with just two shifts in the third period.

As Farabee said, part of that is because he hasn’t played well. And part of that is he hasn‘t played much; he is averaging a career-low 12:56 of ice time. But the elephant in the room is that the Flyers have played just 43 minutes at five-on-five, the fewest in the NHL — and, although he’s on the second power-play unit, Farabee doesn’t kill penalties.

“I just met with Beezer. I got to find him some ice time,” Tortorella said. “He’s the one who has lost out in [that] after a penalty kill, it takes a full round of lines to get them back together. Meanwhile, Beezer is picking his nose on the bench, right, playing nine minutes the other night. I don’t think he’s playing that well, but I got to find him some ice time to give him a chance.”

It wouldn’t be as glaring if Farabee hadn’t struggled to find his game in the second half of last season. But the past is the past. Tortorella said he appreciates how Farabee has handled things. The bench boss is concerned about his turnovers — “He turned the puck over quite a bit the last game, really untested, he wasn’t even checked” — but he also wondered if that’s because he hadn’t seen the ice enough. Regardless, he wants to allow him to turn things around because “if he doesn’t play any better, I may have to take him out.”

For Farabee, he is focused on getting back to basics and doing the little things away from the puck to try and get his offense going.

“Stick position, trying to be in good spots in the D zone to transition, things like that. I mean, I’m sure I could list probably 50 things away from the puck,” he said. “And I think I just got to be harder to play against, feel like I’ve just been too soft.”

» READ MORE: Yes, the Flyers are rebuilding. But John Tortorella’s team has to be more competitive than this.

But the winger does not carry the full weight of the Flyers’ poor start. As captain Sean Couturier said, “There’s a couple of us that can maybe play better, it‘s not only him.” And his teammates know there‘s more to Farabee’s game than just scoring.

“I think that’s maybe shortsighted by him. I think the last couple of games, maybe he wants to be better, but I thought he was great at the start of the year. He’s fought for guys, he made some great plays on that trip, and he’s played great hockey,” forward Scott Laughton said, alluding to him wanting to fight Calgary Flames forward Blake Coleman and dropping the gloves with Edmonton’s Corey Perry.

“So, he continues to build his game and just skating, he’s got to skate and get after guys. But I think a lot of us have to be better, and I think we will be.”

The high volume of line combinations the Flyers have used this season has been a hot topic in Philly — and has gone national.

On the morning of the second half of the back-to-back against the Capitals, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, the 18 line combinations the Flyers used to start the first six games of the season. Eighteen! And there were two more to start the game Wednesday night. And all of that doesn’t even include in-game combinations.

Tortorella offered up an explanation Friday when asked about the blenderization and the TNT telecast’s discussion two nights prior.

“It’s not like I’m a mad scientist back there, just trying to throw things around,” he said, doing the hand motions of a ... mad scientist.

There‘s a method to his, er, madness he explained. Outside of needing different line combinations after special teams — typically called follow lines — it‘s also because the Flyers are tied for the NHL’s basement with seven goals at five-on-five.

“Sometimes, especially in the situation we’re in right now, we’re struggling offensively, [so] if I try something different after a power play or after a penalty kill, and I see something there, I say, man, maybe I’ll stay with that. With line combinations, with me, I wish I could just roll with it. But when you’re struggling offensively, and you see something might work in a game, after certain situations, I’m going to stick with it. So you have to change the other things too.”

“Don’t misconstrue [that] I’m back there just throwing people all over the place,” he added while, again, doing the mad scientist hand gestures. “Any decision I make with lines I’m hoping I’m trying to help the team — and when a team is struggling offensively, I think I need to.

“If I didn‘t, you‘d probably say, ’Why the [heck] isn‘t he changing his lines around? They‘re not scoring, why the [heck] isn’t he changing?’ It’s the chicken and the egg, I guess, right? But I go by feel.”

It was a long-winded answer, which Tortorella said too, but for him, it is about finding the right combinations to get the team going.

“And do I make the right decisions? I don’t know. I certainly haven’t made enough here, because we still are not scoring.”

Tortorella took the blame for the miscommunication at the bench that led to the Capitals’ first empty-net goal in the loss on Wednesday. At the time, it was a one-goal game. On the play, Jamie Drysdale went to pass the puck to Egor Zamula but the defenseman was going for a line change. “I just want to clear Z. When he goes off the ice, I‘m yelling for him to come off the ice. OK? So it’s not like he just ran off. It just was bad timing. I’m yelling for him to come, pass is made, so that’s on me, not on Z.“ ... Sam Ersson will start against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center (1 p.m., NBCSP). ... The sixth annual Gritty 5K will be held Saturday morning, beginning with an opening ceremony at 7:45 a.m. There will be street closures on portions of Pattison Avenue and Broad Street throughout the race.