Travis Konecny on pace to reach feat unseen in NHL since 1989

Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny\'s start to the 2023-24 season has been nothing short of stellar. Not only is he set to make his second appearance at the NHL All-Star Game, but he\'s also on pace to do something no NHL player has done in 35 years.

After netting his fifth shorthanded goal of the campaign in the Flyers\' 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames Saturday afternoon, Konecny is now on track to score an insane 10 ( ten! ) shorthanded markers on the season.

No player has scored 10 or more shorthanded goals in a single season since 1989, when Dirk Graham netted 10 and some guy named Mario Lemieux registered 13. His five shorties also tie or surpass the league leaders in shorthanded goals from each of the last four seasons dating back to the 2018-19 campaign, when Michael Grabner potted six over a full 82-game season.

Konecny is just one shy of that mark with 43 games left to play.

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The Flyers\' penalty kill is among the NHL\'s best, successfully killing off an outstanding 86.3% of enemy power plays — the second-highest success rate in the league. A key component to the PK\'s potency, of course, is the aggressiveness of Konecny to generate shorthanded chances alongside his partner in crime Scott Laughton, who earned the primary assist on his goal against Calgary.

Laughton currently ranks second in the league with four shorthanded assists.

\"Me and Laughty just read off each other. We don\'t even know where we\'re going sometimes. We\'re just reading, so I think it makes it pretty difficult,\" Konecny told the media after Saturday\'s win. \"We\'re still trying to kill the penalty, it\'s just we\'re looking for opportunities.\"

They certainly haven\'t lacked in shorthanded scoring chances this season. The Flyers lead the league with 10 shorthanded markers on the campaign — six of which coming from Konecny and Laughton — while also leading the pack with 21 high-danger scoring chances and 6.44 expected goals while on the penalty kill.

\"What\'s nice is we\'re getting these chances, but we\'re not necessarily cheating for them. They\'re just kind of presenting themselves,\" forward Sean Couturier told the media after the game. \"With the speed that TK and Laughts have, they can jump on all those loose pucks and create offense. It\'s nice.

\"What\'s even better is we\'re killing those penalties. We\'re not just scoring. We\'re actually killing them. If you get an extra one, that\'s a bonus.\"

Konecny is now just two goals away from tying the franchise record for shorthanded tallies in a single season. Brian Propp, Mark Howe and Mike Richards currently share the record with seven apiece.

Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com .

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