Photo Credit: Our very own Michael Reaves
Samuel Ersson struggled early in the season with momentum saves, that would eventually turn the page on the game in the Flyers favor. He has been a stone wall for the most part, with some recent struggles, in large part due to the workload.
Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella has noticed this, and has used him effectively over the course of the past month. Ersson has been pretty impressive with his rebound control, and he has made timely saves most notably against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. He moves laterally from post to post well, and has donned a new goalie mask in the same token this season.
For his efforts, Ersson became the fourth Flyers rookie in the last 30 years to record 20 or more wins in a single season, per NHL stats, following a victory over the Maple Leafs.
Ersson has been spectacular for the Flyers between the pipes after the first month of the season. He’s made timely saves after being peppered trying to keep his team in it early, and also key saves in big moments to keep the Flyers engines going. Ersson continues to receive praise from Danny Briere and John Tortorella alike, even Briere saying that he was capable of being a number one netminder.
It should actually come with no surprise that Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella was going to come to his defense at some point. The Flyers haven’t been the same team over the course of the past five to six games, and are currently enduring a five game losing streak (0-4-1). Is it all Ersson’s fault, no, but he hasn’t made those timely saves like he was making earlier in the season. In addition, there have been one or two soft goals given up in each game he has played, but that’s also due to the workload that the organization unfortunately had to place him in with the absence of Carter Hart.
“He’s probably played too much, but we have not lost a moment of confidence in Sam,” Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella said following practice yesterday. Tortorella says it was “Unfair” the situation they placed him in. He said his numbers don’t do Ersson justice.
Getting back to the team, they have played a bit poorly at times in front of Ersson, which wouldn’t help his confidence. In the scene token, the Flyers definitely wouldn’t be in this position without hurting, and Tortorella was 100% correct by that.
“Erss gives us a chance in the first period to get our legs going,” Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella said after defeating the Panthers
Well before the break, Ersson was on fire for about ten games, but the last few games leading into the All-Star break he had little help in front of him. For the season, Ersson is 21-16-7 with a 2.81 GAA, and a .891 Save Percentage. As Tortorella alluded to above, his numbers do not do him justice at all. Has he had some bad moments, sure. Has he been mediocre at times, sure. However, overall he’s been good and even spectacular at times, these are the ebbs and flows of a rookie netminder that was placed in an unfortunate position a little too early in his NHL career.
“We’re not surprised by him. He does great things for us all the time to keep us in games. That’s why we are where we are at, everyone does their part, and he’s doing his all the time for us. It’s awesome to see.” – Travis Konecny said of Ersson following a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks
“We’re not surprised by him. He does great things for us…,” these are some big words from a player that wears a letter. This isn’t just to pump him up, Konecny realizes how much of importance it is for Ersson to keep succeeding. The Flyers would only be this good if the goaltending is strong, to which it is with Ersson, especially after losing Carter Hart. Ersson, in particular, has done a terrific job with filling in spontaneously as the number one Goaltender, since Hart will not be back with the orange and black this season.
“He’s a number one, I believe that,” Briere said of Ersson at his mid-season presser. “At the same time we have to be careful. You don’t want to put too much pressure on him. He’s still young. He’s still developing and acquiring experience. This is a great opportunity for him to shoulder a lot of heavy load. We will see, but I do believe so.”
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