Following their 3-2 overtime loss to the Leafs Sunday night, the Philadelphia Flyers have played 40 games. After Sunday’s slate of games, they have allowed 144 goals on the season and are one of three teams in the Metropolitan Division who have that dubious distinction of allowing more than 140 goals. And among all teams in the NHL, the Flyers have allowed the fourth-most total goals.
With that there have been calls to do something, anything, to address their weakness at the goaltending position. But despite the dire-feeling situation, the time to make changes may still have not yet arrived.
In Flyers history the words goaltending and disappointment are synonymous. Some could argue they haven’t had a legitimate, foreseeable number one starter they didn’t self-sabotage since Ron Hextall. There should be 24-hour hotlines specifically for this fanbase to deal with watching and enduring a goaltending situation that has never quite gotten over the hump. And now, with this current season playing out the way it is, the Flyers find themselves somehow still in the playoff window for a wildcard despite having horrific goaltending far more times in 40 games than some teams have had in two or three seasons. Everybody has an off night. Sadly the trio of Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov have maybe had a handful of games each (at best) they could be deemed decent to good.
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