Flyers hopefuls stay quiet in preseason loss to Sabres

BUFFALO, N.Y. — For Flyers fans, Travis Konecny and James van Riemsdyk were the headliners in the second preseason game Tuesday night, a 2-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. But Flyers management came to watch everyone else.

While Konecny and van Riemsdyk are both looking for bounce-back seasons, the rest of the players who dressed for the Flyers are fighting to simply make the team. However, unlike the Sabres’ Brandon Biro, the Flyers hopefuls didn’t make strong cases.

On defense, they gave up a lot of opportunities around the net and had to catch up to plays rather than breaking them up from the start. The first line, with the Flyers veterans, provided a lot of the offense. The power play didn’t score.

Some players had quietly strong games, like Noah Cates, who continued to do the small things coaches like, and his brother, Jackson Cates, who continues to impress Lehigh Valley Phantoms coach Ian Laperrière with his conditioning.

But no one stood out like they did in the first preseason game, which was filled with physicality and skillful plays. Things got a bit chippier as the Flyers attempted to tie the game in the final minutes, but much of that was led by the top line.

» READ MORE: John Tortorella directs another punishing practice at Flyers camp

Konecny’s offseason changes won’t be obvious to outsiders, he said. They come in the form of quiet reminders to himself about getting the small details right through practices and games.

While the changes weren’t heard, they were seen Tuesday night. Konecny broke away early, getting a step on the Sabres, and had an open shot at the net. He shot it right into Sabres goalie Craig Anderson. It looked a lot like Konecny’s many frustrating attempts last season when he’d pepper goalies to no avail.

But Konecny found himself with another try when van Riemsdyk set him up with a breakaway pass. This time, Konecny ripped the shot right past Anderson.

“Yeah, I had a little reminder,” Konecny said. “The first one, I think I could have taken it to the net. And then the second one, I didn’t even think about. I just made sure I took it to the net, and it worked out.”

Konecny said he was trying to get back to doing the things he did during his 2019-20 All-Star season, and the shot looked much like it did in the days he was known as a sniper. Laperrière liked the intensity.

“He took it to the net,” Laperrière said. “It was typical Travis Konecny, the way he played, his goal. He looked good.”

It was definitely good to make some good plays and remember what that feels like, Konecny said, but it was also good to have some breakdowns. And he definitely had some breakdowns — he felt he didn’t play a strong game at all, and he has a lot to clean up. But he’s glad he knows what to work on.

On Saturday, Morgan Frost picked up where he left off, working with Owen Tippett on a line after the two of them found success together last season on a line of youngsters. On Tuesday, management switched it up.

While Tippett stayed back with the non-game group, Frost centered a line with the most experienced players on the ice, van Riemsdyk and Konecny. Working on the top line, Frost got to work with more skilled players to match his own style of play.

While Konecny and van Riemsdyk are locks on the NHL roster, Frost still has a lot to prove, and that showed in his ice time. He led the forwards in time on the ice, putting in minutes on both the power play and the penalty kill. He showed some jump on defense, getting his stick in to break up plays, and he drew a penalty to send the team on a power play. However, he sometimes also looked to van Riemsdyk and Konecny rather than playing his own game.

“A couple shifts, he stopped moving his feet — maybe because he was looking for those guys,” Laperrière said. “But you know, Frosty’s got to play his game, and he’s so talented that he’ll make those plays.”

As everyone knows, Laperrière said, it’s been a hard camp, so he’s sure fatigue also plays into it because that’s the first time he’s noticed Frost lagging all camp. But as camp continues and cuts are made, the people surrounding Frost will get better. Laperrière thinks that will bring out the best in him.

» READ MORE: Flyers goaltender Carter Hart returns to practice while dealing with lower-body injury

As it continues looking for Carter Hart’s backup, Flyers management once again split the game between goalies. However, this time, the time was split between Samuel Ersson and Troy Groesnick instead of Groesnick and Felix Sandstrom.

Groesnick gave up one goal early when Biro shot from the left faceoff circle, through Frost and York and past Groesnick’s left shoulder. It was the Sabres’ second shot of the game.

Groesnick faced eight more shots after that. While he stopped them, he struggled to control the rebounds, and his defensemen stopped the puck from trickling past the goal line or going straight to the opponent several times. However, many of the shots were originating from right in front of him.

But the goal he gave up came from above the right faceoff circle on a wrist shot from Biro. Groesnick stopped 12 of 14 shots.

Ersson took over in the third and stopped all seven goals he faced.

“For a guy who’d been sitting for 40 minutes, to come out like that, he made big saves,” Laperrière said. “Again, he’s proving that he’s probably an NHL goalie right now, even if he missed that much time last year, and hopefully, he’s going to keep building on that.”

It was his first preseason experience of the year, and a lot of it was just about getting his feet wet after he missed so much time from injury.

The Flyers return home Wednesday for the second game of their back-to-back, a 7 p.m. game against the Washington Capitals.