The Philadelphia Flyers are in goaltending hell right now.
Dan Vladar left Wednesday night’s loss in Buffalo after just one period due to an injury — early reports appear to be good, at least — and Sam Ersson hasn’t had the confidence of an NHL goalie in recent games. Aleksei Kolosov was recalled on Thursday afternoon, but didn’t get the start even after Ersson allowed two goals on eight shots the night before in Buffalo.
Rick Tocchet once again gave Ersson a nod, in what might have been his last chance to prove himself with the Flyers. He allowed 12 goals on 49 shots in his previous two starts, making it 14 goals allowed on 57 shots (.754 save percentage) in his last 155 minutes of action.
Sam Ersson pulled Thursday night and this might be the end of the road
The Flyers once again had a slow start in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, allowing two power-play goals in the first period. Ersson couldn’t do much on them, but he did make 11 saves on 13 shots in the opening frame.
However, the Penguins then scored on their first shot on goal of the second period, and it was one that a more confident goalie may have been able to save. To be fair, it was a one-on-one situation after some poor defense by the Flyers, but Ersson allowing these types of goals has become all too common recently.
Tocchet didn’t pull Ersson directly after the goal. The Flyers then went down the other end and scored 1:01 later with Rodrigo Abols scoring on a great shot-pass from Cam York at the point. It was only at this point, when it looked like the Flyers might have some life, that Tocchet elected to make the change in net.
Kevin Weekes did note on the broadcast that Tocchet had gone down the bench to say something to Jaroslav “Yogi” Svejkovsky before the goal, but who knows if that was about the goaltending or something else.
Tocchet’s timing on the goalie switch definitely raised some eyebrows. It’s quite unusual for a coach to pull his goalie after his team scored a goal, but that’s what he did, giving Kolosov a chance to prove himself, and possibly ending Ersson’s Flyers career.
That may seem like a stretch, especially given the upcoming condensed schedule and Vladar’s injury, but it certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibilities. The Flyers need to trade for Ersson’s replacement sooner rather than later, and Tocchet’s pull of Ersson felt like the exact opposite of a vote of confidence.
Who knows. Maybe Tocchet just wanted to give Kolosov a look ahead of this weekend’s matchup against the Rangers and next week’s road trip out west. But something could be cooking in Philadelphia.
