Photo Credit: Samantha Wismer
Samuel Ersson went the distance last night against the New York Islanders, and he looked very sharp. The young Swedish netminder saved 21 out of 23 shots faced, a d really has catapulted himself as the leader to win the job as a backup netminder to Carter Hart. Felix Sandström apparently is going to be reevaluated for his unknown injury (Lower body) per General Manager Chuck Fletcher.
The Flyers traded for Tony DeAngelo for two reasons: one to play on the top pair with Ivan Provorov with uncertainty to Ryan Ellis, and the second was to help with the Power Play. DeAngelo was fed a nice feed by Morgan Frost with a man advantage, and DeAngelo fired the puck past the Isles netminder for a 1-0 lead. Moreover, the Flyers PowerPlay finished 1-5 on the evening, but there has been some improvement with cycling the puck. Maybe not on every Power play, but on most.
DeAngelo looks pretty calm and decisive while donning a Flyers sweater. He can definitely fill in on the top pair, as he’s a very good skater that can recover quickly if things go south. The Flyers have another preseason game tomorrow night against the New York Islanders, so DeAngelo paired with what will ultimately be his defensive partner in Ivan Provorov when the season kicks off on October 13th. He took some heat this Summer, as expected, from his prior locker rook issues, but he really is a difference maker with clean zone exits and the man advantage.
Noah Cates was really good at Center, and it will be tough for John Tortorella to move him away from that position. Really no one knew what to expect from Cates, as this was his first time moving to the Center position for the orange and black. With the depth at the Center position being tested already, this move made sense. Cates was one of the better players of the night for the Flyers, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out, but for now it seems like a good move by Torts. There is no way Cates doesn’t make the team, barring injury.
Flyers Update:
The Flyers have off today, so expect another round of roster cuts to take place. The roster currently sits at 45, so I would expect another 10-20 to be cut today. Tomorrow is the last pre-season game before opening night commences on October 13.
As long as the Flyers generate 3 or 4 5-on-3’s a game, they might be able to score 2 goals a game.