Konecny has goal, assist, Flyers hold off Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist, and Trevor Zegras extended his point streak to nine games for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday.

Noah Cates and Carl Grundstrom also scored, Sean Couturier had two assists, and Samuel Ersson made 20 saves for the Flyers (19-10-7), who capped off a back to back with another win after defeating the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 at home on Monday.

“It’s 82 games-- you’re not going to feel great some nights,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “It’s the schedule. Everybody goes through it. That’s when you’ve got to really play smart hockey. I talked to the guys before the game. I call this a ‘maturity game.’ It was good. You could tell guys were tired. But I thought it was a mature effort tonight.”

Ryan Donato scored, and Spencer Knight made 23 saves for the Blackhawks (13-17-6), who have lost six in a row.

“In the end, we had more chances than they did,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “We didn’t score. I thought even on the power play there at the end (of the game), we generated chances. That was probably our best power play. Gotta keep grinding, find a way to score.”

Konecny put the Flyers ahead 1-0 at 10:17 of the first period. Zegras fed Konecny from the left face-off circle, and Konecny tapped the puck in past Knight’s glove. With the assist, Zegras has five goals and six assists during his streak.

Cates scored on the power play to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead at 11:13 of the second period. Konecny took a pass from defenseman Jamie Drysdale near the crease and made a backhand pass to Cates, who put the puck in from in front of the net.

“It’s getting pucks and bodies to the net on the power play,” Cates said. “We’ve kind of been struggling lately, but at the end of the day, we just get it down there and good things happen. Whoever gets the goal gets rewarded, but it’s kind of the group effort with the power play and kind of sticking with it and getting things to the net.”

The assist was the 300th of Konecny’s NHL career.

“I tried to score,” he admitted with a laugh. “It worked out. I think the idea of our power play for a bit was just trying to get pucks to the right areas, outnumbering people at the net, all over the ice. If you can outnumber people 5-on-5, it’s an advantage, so why not do it on the power play?”

With the teams playing 4-on-4, Donato brought the Blackhawks to within 2-1 at 18:30 when he took a cross-ice pass from defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, moved in from the right point and fired a wrist shot past Ersson.

“Every loss is frustrating,” Donato said. “It’s a loss. There’s going to be frustrating times. There are some things we did well, some things that didn’t go our way. I think any loss is frustrating. There’s things we’re going to work on and get better, and get some wins here.

“We have enough veterans in here, a great coaching staff to right the ship. … You think about it like that, I guess. The young guys are actually always positive and in great moods, happy go-lucky guys. It’s just a matter of finding a way to win. I think there’s no negative attitude, no feeling sorry for (ourselves). I think everybody’s hungry to push in the right direction here.”

Grundstrom scored into an empty net at 17:52 of the third period for the 3-1 final.

Flyers forward Denver Barkey, playing in his third NHL game, did not come out for the third period after being called for a boarding penalty at 17:47 of the second period. Barkey was knocked to the bottom of a pile after players from both teams came together after the boarding call.

Philadelphia defenseman Travis Sanheim left the ice after colliding with Chicago's Alex Vlasic at 7:29 of the third period. Vlasic was called for an interference penalty.

Tocchet said Barkey would be evaluated and that he thought Sanheim was “fine,” but that he had to leave the game because of the hit near the head.

NOTES: Zegras became the first player with a nine-game point streak in his first season with the Flyers since John LeClair (12 games from March 2-25, 1995). … Chicago captain Nick Foligno took part in the morning skate and practiced on Monday but did not play. He has missed 18 games with a hand injury and has not played since Nov. 15.