The four-team round-robin tournament is offering the Flyers a unique ability to climb in the Eastern Conference seedings.
Which is just what they have done.
They defeated Washington, 3-1, in the tournament at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday and assured themselves of at least the No. 2 seeding. They can get the No. 1 seed if they beat Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Not bad for a team that entered the tourney as the Eastern Conference's No. 4 seed.
The Flyers, who have won 11 of their last 12 games, got two goals from Scott Laughton (three points) and three assists from Kevin Hayes as they continued their dominance over the Caps.
Brian Elliott made 16 saves and benefited from a suffocating defensive effort that allowed just 17 shots.
Flyers defenseman Robert Hagg (8) and Washington Capitals right winger Richard Panik (14) watch as goaltender Brian Elliott follows the puck during the first period Thursday.
"We were in one of the better spots coming in; we had nothing to lose," said Konecny, aware that the Flyers, unlike other teams, could not drop in the conference seedings.
No matter who they play in the playoffs, Konecny said, "If you have plans of a long run and dreams of winning the Cup, you have to get through everybody."
The Flyers went 3-0-1 against Washington in the regular season, outscoring the Caps, 16-7. The pattern continued.
The Flyers' power-play struggled (0 for 6), but they were strong at even strength and on the penalty kill.
Hayes was one of the main reasons.
Besides his outstanding work while his team was shorthanded four times, Hayes made two highlight-reel plays on the Flyers' first two goals. He later set up Laughton (again) to give the Flyers a 3-0 lead with 11:23 left in regulation.
Twelve seconds later, Travis Boyd cut it to 3-1 with a deflected goal.
With about 8:30 left in the second period, Hayes ragged the puck around defenders in the Washington defensive end, putting on a stickhandling clinic that caused the Capitals to chase him and allowed defenseman Travis Sanheim to sneak deep into the zone. Hayes found Sanheim in front and he beat Braden Holtby with a slick move and put the Flyers ahead, 2-0.
Late in the second, Elliott made two difficult saves, including one on Jakub Vrana's breakaway.
The Flyers had taken a 1-0 lead on a textbook play by their No. 2 line.
Hayes, forechecking behind the goal line, intercepted a pass by former Flyer Radko Gudas and, from near the boards on the right, whipped a pass to Konecny. The feisty right winger made a slick spin-around feed from left circle to Laughton, who scored from the slot with 6:57 left in the opening period.
The coming-of-age Laughton also had a goal in the Flyers' 4-1 round-robin win Sunday over NHL-best Boston.
The Flyers outshot the Caps in the first period, 8-6, but were outhit, 17-7.
With 1:32 left in the first, Caps star center Evgeny Kuznetsov took a hit from Connor Bunnaman and appeared to injure his left leg. He limped to the bench and did not play on Washington's ensuing power play. Kuznetsov, who had 19 goals and 52 points in 63 regular-season games, returned in the second period.
