Carchidi: For Flyers, Goalie ‘Graveyard’ Has Become Alive

Most NHL teams would have struggled with their No. 1 goaltender unable to play for three weeks.

Not the Philadelphia Flyers.

With Sam Ersson sidelined by a lower-body injury, they somehow flourished and climbed into a wild-card playoff spot.

Inexperienced goalies Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov picked up the slack as the Flyers went 6-2-1 – including a current 4-0-1 run – and made themselves relevant again.

What in the name of Bernard Marcel Parent is going on with the Orange and Black?

Well, besides the unproven goalies making strides, veteran center Sean Couturier has regained his form, rookie right winger Matvei Michkov continues to dazzle, rookie defenseman Emil Andrae has thrived since being promoted from the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and Travis Sanheim has become one of the NHL’s top defensemen.

Put it all together, and you have a team playing beyond expectations.

Related: Flyers’ GM: Travis Sanheim Took Leadership Role ‘To Heart’ In An All-Star-Type Season

Aggressive Defense

With Ersson out, “we had a discussion about playing better and more aggressive (defense),” coach John Tortorella told reporters. “That’s the style of defense we want to play. We want to get it out of our end zone as fast as we can.”

The Flyers’ recent success starts in the nets. Without Ersson, who could return Thursday against visiting Florida, Fedotov and Kolosov have made numerous momentum-changing saves.

“It’s all about stepping up when you need to,” Ersson said, “and they’ve both done that.”

Fedotov, 28, had some rocky starts earlier this season, but the 6-foot-7, 214-pounder has regained his confidence and is resembling the goalie who starred in Russia’s KHL. He is 4-1-1 in his last six starts.

Kolosov has also thrived. The 22-year-old Belarus native is 3-0 in his last three starts – all 3-2 overtime wins as the Flyers (12-10-3) defeated Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis. He has a 1.98 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage in that span.

Michkov’s Selfless Gesture

Kolosov was so good in the Flyers’ last win against St. Louis that Michkov, who scored the overtime-winner, took the player of the game belt he was awarded and gave it to the young goalie.

“Koly was the best player,” he said as he declined to accept the belt and took it over to Kolosov in the dressing room.

“We found out we have two (backup) goalies who have done a pretty damn good job for us,” said Tortorella, who complimented goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh for their development. But Tortorella later toned down his praise of Fedotov and Kolosov by saying it was a small sample size and he needs to see more “to really judge” what he has in each goalie.

Ersson, 25, might return Thursday. That gives Tortorella a numbers problem. Too many goalies and not enough games to keep all of them sharp.

Tortorella is adamant that Ersson is still the No. 1 goalie.

“He’s a big part of our team,” Sanheim said about Ersson, whose quick reflexes and unflappable nature have led to success. “Obviously whenever we get him back in game action, it’ll be nice to see him. In saying that, the other two guys have done an awesome job in his absence.”

For the time being, it is likely the Flyers will carry three goaltenders, all drafted by the team. All have promising futures, and that seems like an anomaly for a franchise that, to use Tortorella’s word, has been a goalie “graveyard” for several decades.

“It’s nice,” Sanheim said, “to have so many goalies we can rely on.”

The graveyard has become alive.

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