Already member? Login first!
Sam Ersson was supposed to play all 60 minutes Tuesday night against the Canadiens. Yet after 20 minutes, Aleksei Kolosov was in goal.
We’re not even two games into the preseason and we already have some goaltending drama. This time, the Philadelphia Flyers are going against the pre-determined plan, changing their minds who is in between the pipes.
Flyers goaltender Sam Ersson was, at least according to head coach Rick Tocchet, slated to play the entire 60 minutes against Montreal on Tuesday night. However, backup netminder Aleksei Kolosov was in goal to start the second period. Whether it was due to injury or simply looking far from sharp it’s unclear, but clearly Tocchet couldn’t have been happy with Ersson’s opening frame.
Interesting that Aleksei Kolosov is in net for start of second period. Rick Tocchet said this morning Samuel Ersson would play whole game.
Ersson allowed a goal just 53 seconds in as Cole Caufield beat him clean up high as Ersson was down on his knees. He allowed another one near the halfway mark of the first, this one far more leaky as Florian Xhekaj beat him for a 2-0 Canadiens lead. He had a save percentage of .600 having allowed two goals in the first five shots he faced. Simply put, he didn’t look sharp, and certainly didn’t look you’d want your starting goaltender begin his exhibition season.
After one period Ersson stopped seven of nine shots for a .778 save percentage. We’ll probably know more after the contest from Tocchet as to why Ersson was pulled. Hopefully it was just poor play and not a groin issue or some other injury. If that’s the case, look for Dan Vladar to start getting a bit more work in the exhibition season than was anticipated.
Although it was clear (and still might be the case) that Flyers general manager Danny Briere was looking for Ersson and Vladar to be the Flyers’ tandem all season, nothing is set in stone. Particularly given how porous the Flyers goaltenders were all of last year. There are enough questions being risen about the goaltending situation, and a season debut like this will not quiet any skeptics or critics.
Either way, the opening period was not something Tocchet nor any Flyers fan needed to see. Certainly not this early in exhibition games. The lone positive is that like all exhibition games, they mean nothing in the standings. And it might also open the door for Vladar a bit more than even he expected. And possibly Kolosov, who could go from having a phobia of Lehigh Valley last season to being much more in the mix in Philadelphia in 2025-26.
Of course it might be a bit of “the sky is falling” to envision the entire season being a bust for Ersson. But a good first impression is probably what Tocchet was hoping for from Ersson. He didn’t get it. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
P.S. Don’t forget to check out our podcast feed!
Looking for an easy way to support BSH? Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch!
Hockey News