PHILADELPHIA – Now the Flyers are finding ways to win late in games rather than lose them.
After allowing visiting St. Louis to tie the score at 1-1 midway through the third period, the Flyers got a timely goal from Bobby Brink with 3:01 to play on Thursday night and came away with a 2-1 win at the Wells Fargo Center.
It was the Flyers’ third win in the last four games. They improved to 4-6-1 after starting the season 1-5-1.
Brink scored after a fast rush by linemates Joel Farabee and Scott Laughton.
Coach John Tortorella benched Brink a couple games back, mainly because his defensive play left a little to be desired. But this goal should get him back in the boss’s good graces.
“It felt good,” Brink admitted. “It’s not everyday you get to score in this league. It feels pretty good when you do.
“Sometimes I make mistakes out there but you have to limit those mistakes. Know what time of the game it is. Just think about it more when you’re making plays out here. As a line, I think we put a couple good games together. It was kind of nice for all of us to get rewarded at the end there. There’s ups and downs through the year. Right now it’s an up.”
A goal by the Blues’ Nathan Walker at 9:58 of the third period tied the score at 1-1.
That ended Flyers goalie Sam Ersson’s shutout streak at 116 minutes, 30 seconds dating back to the tail end of the game against Minnesota on Saturday afternoon.
With Carter Hart gone, Ersson clearly has found his identity as the team’s No. 1 goaltender from the season’s outset.
After the Flyers blocked a whopping 28 shots in Boston on Tuesday night, they got in front of 24 more in this game, including a team-leading six by Nick Seeler, who took a painful blast off his hand before returning to action later.
“We have a very good level where they’re blocking the right shots, too,” Ersson said. “They’re not trying to get in front of everything. They know what kind of shots they can leave for me. I think that’s huge. It builds chemistry between me and the guys in front of me.”
Following a bit of a slow start to the season, Ersson seems to be getting some of his swagger back.
“For me, it’s trusting the structure, knowing the results are going to come,” he said. “It’s a long season, I know it’s going to have its ups and downs sometimes. You just have to find a way to grind through it.”
Tortorella likes the way players such as Brink and Ersson have risen to the occasion.
“He (Ersson) has gone quietly about his business,” the coach said. “The team likes to play in front of him. Sam’s playing well. Last year when he struggled, it was too much. From camp on, I think he’s played really well.”
As for Brink, Tortorella is hoping the player’s two-way game picks up.
“He’s gone through a bit of an up and down with me as far as the defensive part of the game,” he said.
The Flyers hit the board first with Garnet Hathaway recording his first goal of the season at 8:48 of the first period..
Ryan Poehling set up the play with a strong rush down the slot to split the St. Louis defense. He relayed to Hathaway for an easy shot past Jordan Binnington.
“Yeah, I think I just trusted my legs and trusted what I saw,” Poehling said. “So, yeah, I mean, coach always tells me to use my feet to make plays, and I think I did a good job of that there.”
In a scoreless second period, the Flyers used a strong neutral zone defense to keep the Blues from mounting any run-and-gun rushes in transition. The few St. Louis did manage were met with Ersson’s stalwart play.
>Vying for No. 2 goalie spot
Backing up Ersson against St. Louis was Aleksei Kolosov with Ivan Fedotov the odd man out.
Tortorella said Fedotov’s numbers speak for themselves. The Russian has yet to win (0-3-0) and his goals-against average (5.35) and save percentage (.821) are nothing to write home about either.
“I’m looking at Kolosov right now (for the No. 2 spot), that’s just the way it is,” Tortorella said. “Ivan’s had some games, we weren’t happy with his game. That’s how I feel about it. Not sure where it all goes.
“We also have to think about ‘Feds’ too, to get him some time. My whole focus is on the hockey team, trying to get some traction at the beginning of the year. If I take out ‘Ers’, Kolosov is going to get the next game.”
>Short shots
Defenseman Egor Zamula was scratched for a second straight game. At the morning skate, Tortorella said that was mostly due to the fact he wanted to go with the same lineup which took a 2-0 win at Boston on Tuesday night.
Going into Thursday night’s game, Michkov had spent 44.8 percent of his playing time in the offensive zone, the highest percentage among the top five highest-scoring rookies this season.
The Flyers return to action on Saturday afternoon when they face the Bruins for the second time this week.
