Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of solid goaltending. It has to be the most stressful position in all of professional sports. Of course your team needs to do their best to support you, but the buck stops where the puck stops. Even a pitcher in baseball has their catcher to strategize and conspire with. Goaltending is a solitary individual effort that the success of the entire team is hinging upon …no pressure or anything.
Samuel Ersson
Ersson has been playing some real solid hockey as of late. On the season he is 5-2-2 with a 2.70 GAA and .902 SV%. In his last five games he’s 4-0-1 with a 2.27 GAA and .915 SV%. He was at his best in the overtime period Monday night against San Jose.
The Flyers started the OT killing a penalty that was called as regulation came to an end. They played the first two minutes 3-on-4. Ersson made several point blank saves. The teams played 4-on-4 until there was a stoppage of play. There was not a whistle for the next two minutes the action was non-stop. Ersson stood solid for all of it and he was perfect in the shoot-out that followed.
Flyers Rough Start
It is no secret the Flyers are having trouble getting in the groove so far this season. This is right about the time that things started clicking for them last year. If you remember it was a rocky start last Fall as well. November and December is when they actually started winning games and banking points.
It’s not possible to make an accurate comparison between this year and last without mentioning Carter Hart. Hart’s name does not get mentioned often and that is due to the serious nature of the criminal charges he’s facing. That being said the goaltending tandem of Hart and Ersson was a big part of what turned the tide for the Flyers last November. But by mid January the goaltending responsibilities fell squarely on Ersson’s shoulders.
Ersson has been playing well and is clearly the starter. Hands down. The question is who is going to solidly earn possession of the back-up position? It’s become a bit of a “next man up” situation. When this season started Flyers head coach John Tortorella was asked about the goaltending situation at the time and he candidly said, “it scares the crap out of me“. So where does it stand now?
Ivan Fedotov
If Fedotov played every game the way he played his last one we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Fedotov in Tampa Bay this past Thursday night was the Ivan Fedotov we’ve been hoping would show up. The situation was very out of the ordinary but hopefully this is the new normal #82.
The Flyers were in the middle of a three game road trip. Samuel Ersson was out with a lower body body injury. Alexei Kolosov was scheduled for the game but he was injured during the morning skate. The Flyers signed emergency goaltender Kyle Konin to an amateur tryout contract to back up Fedotov for the night.
Fedotov needed no backing up. He allowed one goal in the 1st period and that was it for the rest of the night. Fedotov was confident, sharp, and his positioning was on point. He shutout the Lighting for two periods and the overtime. He was perfect in the shootout. Fedotov needs to build on that success and carry it over to his next start. It was his first NHL win. This season Fedotov is 1-3-0 with 4.05 GAA and a .851 SA%.
Alexei Kolosov
There was a lot of drama around Kolosov’s entry into the Flyers camp this Fall. He was coming, he wasn’t coming. Eetu Makiniemi came to camp on a professional tryout and scored a 1 year two way deal with the Flyers. Then Kolosov showed up to camp. Flyers general manager Danny Briere said of Kolosov at the time “he believed he needed another year in the KHL“.
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There was also talk that he wanted to be sure of a spot with the Flyers as opposed to the Phantoms and that is something that is just not guaranteed. But also not impossible. Brier continued, “You know how it works, there could be injuries, there could be changes“. Ain’t that the truth. Kolosov has played well but has yet to score a win with the big club. He’s currently 0-3-0 with a 3.92 GAA and a .863 SV%.
Phantoms
And speaking of “next man up” here’s how things are going in Lehigh Valley:
Eetu Makiniemi 2-0-1 with a 2.60 GAA and .913 SV%
Cal Petersen 2-1-1 with a 2.68 GAA and .892 SV%
Alexei Kolosov 1-2-1 with a 3.29 GAA and .875 SV%
Extra Credit: Carson Bjarnason Brandon Wheat Kings 4-4-1 with a 2.69 GAA and .925 SV%. Bjarnason will very likely be part of the Flyers future. He’s 19 years old so it may be a bit. He did play 30 minutes in the Flyers Capitals preseason game and the post-game exhibition shootout. Nothing got by him.
