PHILADELPHIA – The first half of the Flyers’ season ended on Tuesday night with a game against Toronto and the reviews of the schedule have been mixed to say the least.
Although hopes were high the Flyers would somehow contend for a playoff spot for the first time since the 2019-20 season, the midpoint found the Philadelphia team on the outside of the postseason picture looking in.
The Flyers needed a win to even their record at .500 and hit the 41-point mark. That percentage is not really saying a lot. If they finish with a projected 82 points, it wouldn’t be close to qualifying for postseason play.
Since opening night in mid-October, the main issue really hasn’t changed. The Flyers just haven’t been able to stabilize their goaltending situation.
Samuel Ersson was projected as the No. 1 designated starter this season. But injuries have limited him to just 19 games and although his 9-6-2 mark is respectable, coach John Tortorella hasn’t been able to count on him on a regular basis.
That’s left it up to the two Russians, Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov.
Both have shown flashes of NHL-caliber goaltending but often they’ve thrown in a clunker or two to lower their evaluation scores.
Carter Hart’s unexpected departure from the team last January for personal reasons started the snowball rolling in the wrong direction. It’s been a struggle for the Flyers ever since.
“We’ve lived with it,” Tortorella said after the morning skate at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J. “And we do the best we can.
“No one foresaw this. I think a lot of people kind of ran it down a bit. But no one saw this coming.”
The injury situation with Ersson has complicated the situation more than most people know.
“We thought we would have more time to develop him,” Tortorella said. “But he gets thrown into it and now with his injury problems, it’s turned into more of a situation.
“We just keep moving along.”
Fedotov started Tuesday night’s game after a somewhat surprising start in Sunday’s game in Toronto. He had been benched a month but held the high-flying Maple Leafs to two goals in regulation time before allowing the game-winner in overtime in a 3-2 loss.
Kolosov has come up with a big game here and there as well
“Now we have two guys coming over from Russian,” Tortorella said. “They’re in position (to play) a lot quicker than we ever thought.”
Their numbers are fairly close. Fedotov entered the game with four wins and a 3.42 goals-against average. Kolosov also has four wins and a 3.45 GAA.
“Goaltending is something. . .I wake up every morning and I don’t know where it’s at,” Tortorella said.
As for the overall first half, Tortorella didn’t sound too excited about his team’s performance.
“We were uneven in the first half,” he said. “Some really good stuff, nothing shocking to see. It’s a continued evaluation of all the players as we continue evaluating here.
“I think some guys have steadily improved. I think some guys have put themselves in the conversation of still being evaluated.”
Although hopes were high the Flyers would somehow contend for a playoff spot for the first time since the 2019-20 season, the midpoint found the Philadelphia team on the outside of the postseason picture looking in.
The Flyers needed a win to even their record at .500 and hit the 41-point mark. That percentage is not really saying a lot. If they finish with a projected 82 points, it wouldn’t be close to qualifying for postseason play.
Since opening night in mid-October, the main issue really hasn’t changed. The Flyers just haven’t been able to stabilize their goaltending situation.
Samuel Ersson was projected as the No. 1 designated starter this season. But injuries have limited him to just 19 games and although his 9-6-2 mark is respectable, coach John Tortorella hasn’t been able to count on him on a regular basis.
That’s left it up to the two Russians, Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov.
Both have shown flashes of NHL-caliber goaltending but often they’ve thrown in a clunker or two to lower their evaluation scores.
Carter Hart’s unexpected departure from the team last January for personal reasons started the snowball rolling in the wrong direction. It’s been a struggle for the Flyers ever since.
“We’ve lived with it,” Tortorella said after the morning skate at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J. “And we do the best we can.
“No one foresaw this. I think a lot of people kind of ran it down a bit. But no one saw this coming.”
The injury situation with Ersson has complicated the situation more than most people know.
“We thought we would have more time to develop him,” Tortorella said. “But he gets thrown into it and now with his injury problems, it’s turned into more of a situation.
“We just keep moving along.”
Fedotov started Tuesday night’s game after a somewhat surprising start in Sunday’s game in Toronto. He had been benched a month but held the high-flying Maple Leafs to two goals in regulation time before allowing the game-winner in overtime in a 3-2 loss.
Kolosov has come up with a big game here and there as well
“Now we have two guys coming over from Russian,” Tortorella said. “They’re in position (to play) a lot quicker than we ever thought.”
Their numbers are fairly close. Fedotov entered the game with four wins and a 3.42 goals-against average. Kolosov also has four wins and a 3.45 GAA.
“Goaltending is something. . .I wake up every morning and I don’t know where it’s at,” Tortorella said.
As for the overall first half, Tortorella didn’t sound too excited about his team’s performance.
“We were uneven in the first half,” he said. “Some really good stuff, nothing shocking to see. It’s a continued evaluation of all the players as we continue evaluating here.
“I think some guys have steadily improved. I think some guys have put themselves in the conversation of still being evaluated.”
