Konecny, Ghost benched; Weise, Schultz in Flyers lineup

Veterans Nick Schultz and Dale Weise are in. Rookies Travis Konecny and Shayne Gostsibehere are out.

Those decisions were made by Flyers coach Dave Hakstol for Thursday night's game against visiting Montreal. The Flyers will trade speed for experience as they face the talented, swift Canadiens.

Konecny, a forward, had a turnover that led to Carolina's first goal in its 5-1 win over the Flyers on Tuesday. On that goal, Sebastian Aho scored as he got inside position on defenseman Gostisbehere.

Both Konecny and Gostisbehere were minus-2 in the blowout loss.

"There's things that both the young guys can improve upon in their game," Hakstol said after Thursday's morning skate in Voorhees. "I won't get into the specifics, but there's a couple different things that they're aware that they can improve."

Both said they need to get better on the defensive side.

Gostisbehere, who has four goals, 21 points and a minus-19 rating, hasn't scored a goal since Nov. 25, a span of 27 games. He had right hip and abdominal surgery in the off-season, but said he is 100 percent healthy.

Konecny, goal-less in his last seven games, has seven goals, 22 points and a minus-4 rating.

"I think we're just trying to figure things out. We had a bad game the other night," Konecny said, referring to the entire team, "and I made some mistakes. ... We all had a tough night."

Konecny, 19, said he would "work hard and try to get back in the lineup. It's all part of it. I've got to learn from my mistakes, and hopefully with the changes we're making, we can start getting some wins tonight."

It's the second time this season Konecny is a healthy scratch, and the third time for Gostisbehere.

"I don't know what to think of it right now," Gostisbehere, 23, said of the latest benching. "I'm definitely not happy, When we lose like that, it's definitely tough, and it's a team loss. I guess you have to change some things up when you lose that bad, so I guess it's my turn. I could have done a lot of better things defensively, for sure."

Gostisbehere called it a "learning curve right now. I just have to take some positives from it and learn from it."

Center Brayden Schenn said that Gostisbehere has not been playing badly and that once he scores a goal, the floodgates will open and the pressure will be lifted from his shoulders.

"I really don't care about goals. I'm more worried about being on the ice when pucks are going in my own net," Gostisbehere said. "I'm a defenseman first. My job is to be a defenseman and defend. Right now, pucks are going in the net when I'm on the ice, and that's not good, so something has to change. I have to take a hard look at my game and how I'm playing."

Schultz has sat out nine of the last 10 games. Weise, expected to be on a line with Schenn and Wayne Simmonds, has been a healthy scratch the last five games.

"It was a nice mental refresher and I'm excited and ready to go," Weise said.

Schultz said that going in and out of the lineup was "not ideal," but that "you stay with your conditioning off the ice and try to stay ready."

Breakaways. On Friday, Gostisbehere will be honored by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association as the Philadelphia Pro Athlete of the Year for his brilliant rookie season. The 113th annual banquet will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill at 6:30 p.m. Doors will open at 5. Eric Lindros will be among the many honorees and will receive the Living Legend Award. Tickets are available at www.phillysportswriters.com or by calling 267-546-7277. ... Michal Neuvirth will face Montreal's Carey Price in goal. ... Schenn has recovered from a one-day flu and will play tonight.