It may be more accurate to say, Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kolosov desperately needed a big game with the Flyers last night. In a shortened four game preseason schedule the Flyers went 1-3-0. Thursday night’s 2-0 win against the Bruins proved to be the outlier, as well as the only game where the Flyers gave up less than 5 goals.
Aleksei Kolosov
Although Kolosov’s personal stats improved in Lehigh Valley last season although his most recent call-ups to the Flyers have not gone well for him. Back in April of 2025 the Flyers beat the Rangers 8-5. Kolosov secured the win but allowed 5 goals on 29 shots.
He hadn’t had back to back solid games at that point since October of 2024 where he had 2 games in a row where he allowed only 2 goals on 27 shots back-to-back.
Last season Kolosov had two solid appearances in November, stopping 7-of-7 then allowing 2 goals on 21 shots the following game. Then the era of Dan Vladar started to kick in and Kolosov spent his season with the struggling Phantoms.
Currently Kolosov’s all time record with the Flyers is 5-11-1. He holds a career GGA of 3.64 with a .863 SV%. But it was his last two regular season appearances with the Flyers that he needed to overcome this pre-season.
Calling Card
Last season when the Flyers were experiencing their post holiday meltdown Kolosov had two starts. January 15th against the Penguins he allowed 3 goals on just 16 shots and was pulled. The Flyers went on to lose that game 6-3.
He was given the start again just two days later against the Rangers and allowed 3 goals on 3 shots before being yanked. This was the last time we saw of Aleksei Kolosov between the pipes for the Flyers.
In the “what have you done for me lately” world of professional ice hockey Kolosov obviously had something to prove at Flyers Training Camp 2026. Better yet, he had something to disprove. The preseason would be a chance for him to put some distance on the calling card he left last January.
Dan Vladar started the preseason game on September 22nd in Boston and was injured 13:31 into the first period. Aleksei Kolosov took over in the net with the Flyers down by the score of 1-0. He did not allow any goals for the rest of the first period and all of the second. He made some challenging saves and was playing some solid hockey. This was exactly what he needed.
The Flyers went into the 3rd period with the score tied at one. Kolosov allowed four unanswered goals in the final period and the Flyers lost 5-1. This game was not out of character for the Flyers who disappeared in the 3rd period in all but one of their preseason games. But Kolosov really needed that not to happen on his watch.
Golden Opportunity
Saturday night Vladar and Joseph Woll were both unavailable for the Flyers. Vladar is still injured (but looking promising for opening night). Joseph Woll had already reached his allowed max time (while posting a shutout) for the pre-season.
So Saturday night against the Caps in Philly was Kolosov’s last chance to leave a different impression before most likely heading down to Lehigh Valley to start his season with the Phantoms.
The Flyers signed Yaniv Perets to a Professional Tryout Agreement so that they could have a backup goalie on the bench insuring that Kolosov would get his shot for all three periods.
The Flyers had pretty much their starting line-up for the season opener on the ice to face a super majority of prospects on the Washington squad. This was a golden opportunity for the Flyers netminder. Kolosov allowed 5 goals on 24 shots.
The Flyers outshot the Capitals 37-24 in the 5-1 loss. To be fair, Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren played an amazing game stopping 32 of 33 shots in the first two periods. Just to make things worse the Caps rewarded Lindgren with the rest of the night off and put former Flyers Cal Petersen in the net for the final period. The Flyers were shut down by the young Washington squad in the 3rd period and managed just 4 shots against their former netminder.
This certainly was not the Training Camp Kolosov needed. …And what’s up with the Flyers being outscored 15-6 during their 4 preseason games? That’s a subject that deserves it’s own article.
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