PHILADELPHIA – If the goalie from Russia isn’t working out, there’s another from nearby Belarus waiting in the wings.
That seemed to be the reasoning over the weekend as the Flyers chose to call up goaltender Aleksei Kolosov from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and start him in Sunday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Ivan Fedotov, the Russia native who usually starts the second half of a back-to-back situation (the Flyers played Minnesota on Saturday), was pushed to the bench.
The feeling seems to be that coach John Tortorella has begun to lose faith in Fedotov, who in three games sports rather unsightly statistics – 0-3-0, 5.35 goals-against average, .821 save percentage.
Samuel Ersson, who starts the majority of games for the Flyers, served as Kolosov’s backup against Montreal.
“Ivan hasn’t played well,” Tortorella said in a pre-game press briefing. “We’re trying to look at the situation and see where it goes.”
For the time being, it looks like the Flyers will carry three goaltenders. The Flyers tried that briefly last season when Carter Hart, Ersson and Fedotov were all on the roster toward the end of the schedule.
Tortorella wouldn’t state a preference between carrying two or three.
“It’s not what you like or don’t like,” he said. “It’s just trying to figure out the situation. This is where we’re at right now.”
Kolosov created a bit a stir at the start of this season when the 2021 third-round draft pick announced he would rather play one more season in his native Belarus than compete for the Phantoms.
In other words, play for the Flyers or else.
After general manager Daniel Briere announced the Flyers would not make any concessions, Kolosov beat a quick path back to the Flyers training camp and managed to get into parts of a couple preseason games.
He didn’t exactly light it up but went quietly down to the Phantoms when he was one of the late roster cuts.
In four games with the Phantoms, Kolosov sports a record of 1-2-1 with a 3.29 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage. Those aren’t exactly eye-opening numbers but you never know with the American Hockey League because the play is a bit more wide open.
Because Kolosov did not play much in preseason games or participate in a full training camp, fitting the goalie into the structure is a bit of a challenge.
“We haven’t talked about that,” Tortorella said. “We want him to stop the puck. That’s about it. We don’t talk about structure. It’s such a unique position, we don’t need to convolute, we just want him to be the best he can be.”
As mentioned, things between Kolosov and the Flyers weren’t going along all that smoothly but Tortorella does see a silver lining.
“He has struggled (with the Phantoms) but he spent all summer here trying to get ready,” the coach pointed out. “As far as attitude, and where Kolosov’s mind is right now, we’ve gotten good reports.”
Defenseman Travis Sanheim said he was pretty sure he didn’t play when Kolosov was in goal during the preseason but he did see enough of him to offer a few comments.
“He looks like he moves pretty well,” Sanheim said. “A smaller guy (6-foot-0, 185 pounds) but he just looked like he was moving pretty quick.”
Sanheim said he didn’t think the language barrier would be a problem.
“Just treat it like any other game,” he said. “You don’t want to adjust based on who’s in net. For us, it’s back-to-back so we want to keep it simple. Try to get back and help as quickly as you can. Make it easier.”
>Andrae gets into action
Defenseman Emil Andrae, called up from the Phantoms on Saturday night to spell the injured Cam York, dressed for the Montreal game and was paired with veteran Erik Johnson.
Egor Zamula was scratched.
“He (Andrae) will probably get some power-play time,” Tortorella said. “He can make a play, he’s not afraid to make a play. He’ll be slotted with that third pair and we’ll see what happens.”
