‘You just got to limit mistakes’: Travis Konecny and the Flyers are ready to face Connor McDavid, Oilers

It’s no secret that the Edmonton Oilers boast one of the most talented hockey players in the world in Connor McDavid, with Leon Draisaitl right behind him on a team that is averaging a league-high 3.76 goals per game.

But, according to Flyers head coach John Tortorella, McDavid and his 93 points will not change the Flyers’ game plan Thursday night.

“You talk about the great players in our game, you start trying to make a plan for them, I think you put your team into a situation where you’re not inflicting, you’re just trying to counter,” Tortorella said. “We certainly have to be aware when [McDavid is] on the ice … it doesn’t change for me how we’re gonna play. We’re going to worry about ourselves.”

» READ MORE: Kieffer Bellows hopes to take his opportunity with the Flyers to cook up some more offense

Flyers forward Travis Konecny is familiar with McDavid’s game, having played against him since junior hockey. They were first overall picks in the OHL draft in consecutive years, with McDavid selected by the Erie Otters in 2012 and Konecny going to the Ottawa 67s in 2013. They each won OHL Rookie of the Year and were taken in the first round of the 2015 NHL draft.

“We’ve got to focus on our game, and [McDavid is] going to create opportunities out there and we’ll just try to limit that,” Konecny said. “I don’t think it’s so much trying to just focus on him, it’s trying to focus on how we can play our game and take the game to them. I mean, in saying that, he is the best player in the world. He’s going to create havoc out there. You just got to limit mistakes.”

Edmonton’s goal-scoring ability will not be the only thing the Flyers have to worry about. The Oilers are coming off a physical 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings, while the Islanders’ checking ability was an issue for the Flyers in their 2-1 loss on Monday.

“You can see right away where the league is going to, as far as intensity, watching some other teams play,” Tortorella said. “And that isn’t drawing up on a board like an X’s and O’s play. That is a mindset of readiness. We have a tough opponent tonight. Not a lot of X’s and O’s brought into our meetings prior to this game. It’s more about the intensity, the checking, the battle level.”

» READ MORE: Flyers roundtable: Is the team’s overachievement actually a good thing long-term?

In between stifling the league’s top offense, the Flyers also need to figure out how to create some of their own. Konecny, the team leader in goals (24) and total points (49), hasn’t scored a goal in 10 games. This current drought comes on the heels of a 10-game points streak that stretched from Dec. 20 to Konecny’s hat trick against the Capitals on Jan. 11.

While Konecny had chances in Monday’s loss to the Islanders, the only Flyers goal came from fourth-liner Nicolas Deslauriers, his third of the season.

“It’s always a concern when one of your top goal scorers on a team that for a lot of this year struggled to score, isn’t scoring,” Tortorella said. “Hopefully, when we start playing a really hard part of our schedule right from here to the end of the year because of the intensity of the game, hopefully he gets on another streak for us.”

» READ MORE: Joel Farabee looking to ‘play simple’ as he works to snap seven-game scoring drought

Konecny is staying positive about this current dry spell.

“It’s about getting our team on track and getting myself back to playing the right way,” he said. “And I just don’t worry about that stuff. It will take care of itself.”

In Tortorella’s words, “I think he’s very close.”

Carter Hart (15-15-8, .911 save percentage) will start in net against the Oilers (7 p.m.)… In Monday’s game, James van Reimsdyk moved to a line with Noah Cates and Konecny. While the line did not produce any points, Tortorella said he liked what he saw, and “we’re gonna give it another chance.” ... Tortorella said any line changes have nothing to do with rumors surrounding van Riemsdyk as the trade deadline approaches on March 3.