The Flyers played one of their most complete games of the season to earn a 4-1 win Thursday night over the Coyotes at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona.
Travis Konecny was all over the ice and finished the game with two goals, giving him 14 goals on the season.
Joel Farabee and Cam York also scored for the Flyers (14-10-2), who won their third straight and quieted the Coyotes. Arizona had reeled off five straight wins by a combined score of 19-5 before the visit of the Flyers.
John Tortorella’s club has scored at least a point in five of its last six games (4-1-1).
The Flyers see the Coyotes (13-10-2) again on February 12 at the Wells Fargo Center.
• Credit to Tortorella, he wanted Konecny to start taking penalties last season and the decision paid off beautifully.
Konecny put the Flyers ahead 3-1 with a shorthanded goal early in the second period. The club’s PK continued to hum, rising to 3-for-3 and improving to 38-for-40 in its last 12 games (95 percent).
With six shorthanded marks over the past two seasons, Konecny is in a three-way tie for most NHL players, joining JT Miller and Chris Kreider.
• Carter Hart gave up just one goal for the second straight start. He finished with 25 saves.
The 25-year-old has surrendered three or fewer goals in 13 of his 15 decisions.
Arizona goaltender Connor Ingram stopped 22 of the Flyers’ 26 shots.
The 26-year-old entered with a 2.23 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
• For the first time since Nov. 18, the Flyers held the lead at the first intermission, ending an eight-game stretch without a single.
Konecny fired a shot past Ingram right from the equalizer, which was won by Sean Couturier. Farabee extended the Flyers’ lead to 2-0 when Cam Atkinson found him on Ingram’s doorstep.
Lawson Crouse scored two seconds after the Coyotes power play ended to cut the Flyers’ lead to 2-1 at the first intermission.
But the Flyers showed why they didn’t lose much by scoring first. They improved to 11-1-0 when they scored the game’s opening goal. They can play this aggressive and risk-taking style much better as they progress.
The Flyers took care of business Thursday night, beating the Coyotes 4-1.
• The Flyers’ top defensive duo of York and Travis Sanheim were excellent.
York’s goal was the icing on the cake for the Flyers. The 22-year-old made a nice move around Jason Zucker and buried a shot early in the third period.
He finished with two points and a plus-2 rating.
Sanheim had an assist and a plus-3. The Flyers want to reduce the load on his shoulders. He came in to lead the NHL with an average of 26:01 minutes per game. The Flyers managed to keep it at 19:15 on Thursday night.
The Flyers blocked 23 shots and nine different players scored at least a point. Just a very good, all-around effort.
• Igor Zamula returned to the squad, replacing veteran Marc Staal. The 23-year-old defenseman has been a healthy scratch in four of the past six games.
The Flyers relied on him for 19:03 minutes, their second-most of the season. He had a few shots and blocked two.
• Olle Lycksell was recalled Wednesday from AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley to give the Flyers an extra forward for their three-game road trip. He joins the lineup for Ryan Boehling, who was out with illness.
Lycksell played 6:11 minutes in his season debut. The 24-year-old forward led the Phantoms in goals (12) and points (19) through 21 games.
• The journey continues Saturday as the Flyers head to Denver for a matchup against the Avalanche (9 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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