Konecny-less Flyers flirt with upset but fall to Rangers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers sorely missed Travis Konecny in a 2-1 loss Saturday afternoon to the Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center.
John Tortorella’s club was commendably competitive against one of the top teams in the NHL. But without its all-situation leading scorer, its offense lacked finish.
Konecny was out for the first time this season because of an upper-body injury. He left Friday’s practice in discomfort. More on his status here.
The Flyers (30-21-7) dropped to 5-2-1 since the bye week and All-Star break.
Tyson Foerster scored the team’s lone goal Saturday. The Flyers went on a power play with 4:03 minutes remaining in the game but failed to convert.
Sean Couturier nearly tied the game in the final five seconds.
The Flyers’ lead over the Devils in the Metropolitan Division race was trimmed to five points. New Jersey beat the Canadiens, 4-3, Saturday afternoon. The Devils have played one fewer game than the Flyers and come to Philadelphia in April for a final head-to-head matchup.
New York, 14 points up on the Flyers, has won 10 straight.
The Flyers are 0-2-0 against the Rangers (39-16-3) in their regular-season series. The clubs have two matchups left, both at Madison Square Garden.
With Konecny, this was a measuring stick game for the Flyers. Without Konecny, it was a tall, tall order.
Since 2021-22, the Flyers have lost eight of their last nine meetings with New York (1-6-2) and been outscored 29-13.
To no surprise, blue Rangers jerseys permeated the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. Last season, New York fans flooded Philadelphia for a game in March. Tortorella said “blame us,” that the organization needed to make home games “a tough ticket” again.
With the team’s progress, has he sensed Flyers fans getting back on board?
“I want to get us to the place — and we’re not there — where it’s a tough building to come in and play,” Tortorella said Friday after practice. “I think that’s one of the things we have not totally grabbed ahold of this year in our development, is the home ice. I think sometimes it’s harder to play on home ice than on the road.
“But I want the building to be that way. I sense it, you can feel it come games. But I want that to be a given, that people are talking, ‘Oh, that’s a tough place to go into.’ And the fans are a big part of that. I think we’re on the right rails to get there; we still have a ways to go.”
• The Flyers came out with a great push…