Flyers right winger Travis Konecny is using last year’s playoff funk to ‘fuel myself’ for a strong season

Travis Konecny is being counted on to be one of the Flyers’ top offensive weapons again this season.

The 23-year-old right winger admitted, however, it took him a while to get over his head-scratching postseason: no goals in 16 games – after leading the team with 24 regular-season tallies.

“It was bitter for me because I thought we were so close in the playoffs,” he said after Friday’s training-camp session in Voorhees. “I was trying to do whatever I could to contribute. Obviously, I didn’t bring my best and that obviously sat with me for a couple weeks. I let it settle in and let it bother me and used it to fuel myself for the offseason.”

He has been the definition of consistency, scoring 24 goals in each of the last three seasons. Konecny would have had a career high last year, but the season was cut short by 13 games because of the pandemic. The postseason then started after nearly a five-month pause.

“I played well before the break,” Konecny said. “When it comes down to the playoffs, the regular season really doesn’t matter. Hopefully, we can build off what happened before the break last year and get into the playoffs and have another spring at it.”

Shayne Gostisbehere was paired with Ivan Provorov Friday, marking the first time in camp that Provorov was with the same partner in two straight sessions.

Coach Alain Vigneault said he wanted to take a look at the duo, but added the pairings have not been set.

“They have played together in the past, and my understanding is they have had some good success,” Vigneault said. “So I wanted to take a quick peek at that. In the next couple of days, I’m going to look at a couple of other options, also.”

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He also has had Phil Myers and Travis Sanheim paired for most of the abbreviated camp.

Vigneault said he will probably put his starting lineup together in practice Tuesday. The Flyers open the season Wednesday against visiting Pittsburgh.

“It is not easy right now,” Vigneault said of lineup decisions, “but it is the format we have in front of us, so we are going to make it work.”

Vigneault on rookie defenseman Egor Zamula: “Z has a tremendous amount of potential. Big man. He has gained some weight. He has gotten stronger. Not quite sure he is quite ready for this competition right now, but we wanted to take a look at him.” … Defenseman Justin Braun said the fact this is the players’ second year with the coaching staff has made camp run smoother. “We’re comfortable with what we need to do and what the system is and I think that’s going to help us out of the gate,” he said. ... Sunday’s intrasquad scrimmage will be the Flyers’ first Wells Fargo Center appearance since March 10, a 2-0 loss to Boston that ended their nine-game winning streak. ... NBC Sports Philadelphia announced it will televise 49 of the Flyers’ 56 games. Former Flyer Scott Hartnell will serve as the primary analyst for the pregame and postgame shows, which will be hosted by Taryn Hatcher.