TK arrives, rematch vs. Isles up next for Flyers
Catch up on the action of Day 5 at camp as Konecny hits the ice for the first time
by Bill Meltzer @BillMeltzer
Featuring largely different lineups from the ones that met at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night's preseason opener, Alain Vigneault's Flyers and Barry Trotz's New York Islanders will rematch on Tuesday night at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale.
But first thing's first. Flyers forward Travis Konecny made his first appearance at the team's practice facility:
He also took the ice for the first time and addressed the media immediately afterwards.
Video: Konecny speaks to media on his contract extension
Back to tonight's game (7:00 p.m. on NBCSP+ as well as 97.5 The Fanatic)... Vigneault and his staff will take another look on Tuesday at four players who were also in Monday's lineup: centers German Rubtsov and Mikhail Vorobyev as well as rookie winger Maksim Sushko and veteran tryout forward Chris Stewart.
* None of the players who will be in the lineup for the second straight night participated in Tuesday's morning skate, so line combinations cannot be ascertained at this time.
* One defense pairing that is likely to play together in Tuesday's game is Travis Sanheim and Robert Hägg. They practiced together on Sunday and worked together frequently during Tuesday's morning skate.
* Carter Hart will get the start in goal for the Flyers.
Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault assessed some of the performances of certain players from last night and in camp so far...
* On Hägg: "I like his demeanor. I like his size, strength and reach on the ice. I've heard a lot of good thing about him as a player, and I've liked him at practices. He's battling right now with a lot of guys. I like good internal competition. I want guys to step up; want everybody to step up."
On leadership: "If you look at Coots and Claude Giroux, they are two of our hardest workers, if not our two hardest workers. They're earning their ice time. That's what I want everyone to do. You've got to come here. You've got to want it. You've got to compete. And you've got to earn it."
* On Monday's game: "We gave up five scoring chances and we only gave up 16 shots. One of our big areas of emphasis has been our play without the puck. One of Chuck's major issues when he was talking to me about the team was that we gave up quite a few goals against; a lot of scoring chances. We need to address that. I thought yesterday, as far as focusing on out play without the puck and focusing on limiting chances at 5-on-5, I think we did a pretty good job. And I liked our second period; the up-tempo style we played."
* On Chris Stewart: "He's come in with a sense of urgency. He's skating real well. Last night, he got in on the forecheck. Got in a fight. With that kind of energy, there's a spot on a team."
* On Travis Konecny: "The target right now is for him to play on Saturday. He'll have three days on the ice, which is roughly what everyone had before they played in their first exhibition game. We'll catch him up on the video. He'll be a little bit behind in terms of the drills, but he can catch up as we go along..... I talked to him briefly this morning and he said he really wanted to be here. There are issues sometimes. but now he's here and we're happy to have him."