*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
Things might be starting to click for the former Broad Street Bullies. Scott Laughton had a goal and two assists, Travis Konecny had 3 goals, and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Washington Capitals with a 5-3 victory on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
Konecny rattled off a hat trick to reach 24 goals on the season, tying a career high for the right winger. He also extended his ongoing point streak to 10 games, scoring 12 goals and 8 assists in that time. It's the longest point streak by a Flyer since Claude Giroux had a 10 game point streak in 2017-2018, and it's the longest active point streak in the league.
He also helped to keep the Flyers sizzling hot as well. They've now picked up two straight wins, 6 wins in 7 games, and 7 wins in 10 games, now 17-18-7 this season. Laughton's 3 point night and a two point game from Owen Tippett also keyed the win for the Flyers.
Tippett said of the recent hot streak that "We're playing more confident offensively, and with that comes results, and obviously when results are coming there's confidence that comes throughout the group. I think we're all enjoying winning and we want to keep it going."
Laughton got the Flyers ahead first, scoring 7:26 into the game to make it 1-0, with Tippett and Tony DeAngelo assisting. Garnet Hathaway tied it for the Capitals with just 54 seconds left in the first period, but Konecny scored just 21 seconds after Hathaway, giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead after the first 20 minutes.
After a scoreless second period, Tippett scored 5:31 into the 3rd period to make the lead 3-1. Konecny scored a shorthanded goal to make it 4-1 Flyers, before Marcus Johansson and TJ Oshie scored for the Capitals, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Konecny sealed the win with an empty net goal with 13 seconds on the clock.
Konecny said of his point streak that "I'm kind of getting my bounces right now. It goes around in the locker room throughout a season, and it's just going my way right now. It's not like things are changing. My linemates, whoever I've been playing with this year, have been putting me in Grade A opportunities. They're just going in right now."
Drawing the start for the Flyers in goal was Carter Hart, who improved to 12-12-6 with a win. Hart made 26 saves on the 29 Washington shots that reached him, recording a .897 save percentage in the victory.
Starting opposite Hart was Washington's Darcy Kuemper, who couldn't pull off the win. Kuemper stopped 31 out of the 35 shots on goal from the Flyers, good for a .886 save percentage. His record drops to 12-10-4 in 27 starts this season.
Oshie said after the game that "The Flyers did a good job tonight, pressuring. They were playing hard, they were checking hard, and doing a pretty good job trying to keep us to the exterior in the zone. And we struggled a little bit breaking the puck out, and moving it down the ice and getting a deep, so not definitely not our best."
Up next, both teams square off again on Saturday night, wrapping up a home and home showdown. The goalie matchup is expected to remain the same, with Hart battling Kuemper.
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