Ersson is Perfect in Flyers Shoot-Out Shut-Out

Photo Credit: FNG’s Rob Windfelder

The Flyers were in New York to take on the Islanders for the second night of yet another back-to-back. Philly was looking to end a two game slide in which their sticks had gone pretty quiet. Goals have been hard to come by this week and tonight was no exception. It was a harbinger of things to come as less than a minute into the game Samuel Ersson snagged a golden New York opportunity into his glove with a solid confidence that proved to set the tone for the night.

Goalie Battle

Down the other end of the ice stood one of the NHL’s toughest nuts to crack in Ilya Sorokin. For the Flyers to be successful in this game Ersson would have to match the performance of the Russian Goaltender and that is never an easy task. The Flyers offense did what they could outshooting the Islanders 40-25 yet still this game was tied at zero all the way through to the shootout. Both net-minders were outstanding. Ersson was poised, confident, and exactly where he should have been all night long.

Back-to-Back

The Flyers did look a bit ragged at times this being their second game in as many days. Play was back and forth neither team really dominating except in spirts. But the Flyers were losing foot battles, lacking crispness, general things you might expect from a team that had just lost a hard-fought game the previous afternoon.

As time in regulation was getting short the pace and intensity of the match really started to rev up. Neither team wanted to see this game slip away from them. With five minutes left in regulation it was really starting to feel like it was a “next goal wins” type of situation. Ersson and Sorokin had both proved unsolvable as the two teams kept plugging away.

5:00

With 5 minutes left the Flyers had prolonged possession in the Islanders end. The Islanders could not seem to catch up to the puck. Finally in frustration Alexander Romanov was called for interference after some nasty stick-work against Tyson Foerster. The refs had been pretty easy on the whistle for most of the night but this call had to be made. It didn’t seem like the right call but at least it was something.

The Flyers did not score on the issuing power-play but it was not for the lack of trying. It wasn’t that the Flyers chances were weak, it was that Sorokin was stellar. At that point the Flyers had New York’s shot count doubled 33-16. Nick Seeler was a monster in the Flyers end as time was running down. He single handedly broke up a dangerous Islanders rush. His physical play and adept stick work in the defensive end kept the Islanders at bay.

4:00

Four minutes left and Seeler again was key. The Flyers had a couple breakdowns right in front of the net and Ersson stayed calm as he made a few really tough saves at one point absolutely stoning Bo Horvat point blank.

2:00

With just two minutes left play continued at a fast and furious pace. The Isles had all stops pulled out in a final push to end this one in regulation. With just :05 left and the Islanders swarming the Flyers net got knocked off its moorings and play was halted. There would be a face-off in the Flyers end. The officials added 3.3 seconds to the clock which at that point seemed like an eternity.

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Now with :08.3 on the clock the Islanders won the face-off back to Noah Dobson who teed it up. Ersson made yet another big save. New York got the rebound and had time for one more booming shot which was was blocked by Travis Konecny who dropped to the ice and stayed down shaking it off as time ran out. For the first time in over a year the Flyers had gone all the way through regulation in a scoreless tie.

Overtime

It looked like the Flyers might just put a quick end to things in the extra period. Konecny sent Travis Sanheim in on a break but again Sorokin was having none of it. The Flyers second shift of the 3on3 was Cam Atkinson, Morgan Frost, and Cam York. The three talented players together could not have looked like a more disjointed unit. They were all over the place and so was the puck. It was amazing that the Flyers lived through the shift.

Another Travis to Travis pass from Sanheim to Konecny had TK almost ending the contest this time. The pace was fast and unrelenting. It wasn’t till halfway through the overtime period that the Islanders were the first team to draw the puck back into their own zone to regroup. Ersson was incredible as the pressured increased. Neither team could finish the job so this scoreless game was going to a shoot-out.

Shootout

Horvat-blocker save Ersson

Atkinson-pad save Sorokin

Wahlstrom-glove save Ersson

Coots-pad save Sorokin

Barzal-smokin’ glove save Ersson

Frost-glove save Sorokin

Palmieri-flat out blew the shot

At some point one of these goaltenders had to make a mistake. Through 60 minutes of regulation, 5 minutes of overtime, and now 7 shooters into the shoot-out they were still looking at two perfect performances in net.

The Flyers could really use this win after two really frustrating losses in a row. At this point one goal is all they needed. Tyson Foerster was called on to take the next shot. Foerster has been playing some good hockey. He led the team with 6 shots on goal during the course of this game. He has 1 goal and 3 assists in 20 games so far this season. He’s been solid but was expected to find the net more often that he has so far this season. This would be the perfect time for him to get things going.

Foerster-SCORES for the win.

Foerster skated in and cut left to right as he approached the net. Back-hand to fore-hand for a quick wrist shot that beat Sorokin high glove side. After the game Foerster being his usual mature self deflected most of the attention and credit to his goaltender Samuel Ersson who certainly did earn it.