ELMONT, N.Y. – Sam Ersson might not have one of the better save percentages in regular action but when it comes to shootouts, he’s right up there with the NHL’s very best.
In fact, for his career, he sports a .797 save percentage and that might be starting to get into the heads of opposing forwards.
It happened again on Friday afternoon at UBS Arena.
The Islanders came all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to send the game to overtime. No goals there, so the action went to a shootout.
And predictably, Ersson held the Isles to a single goal, allowing teammates Travis Konecny and Trevor Zegras to score and make the difference in a hard-earned 4-3 victory.
After the game, coach Rick Tocchet confirmed that Ersson’s spectacular work in the shootout could be making shooters try to get a little fancy with their efforts because conventional stuff just doesn’t seem to be working.
“There could be some pre-scout,” Tocchet said, meaning shooters are trying to find some weaknesses in Ersson’s game. “I mean, he looks big when you go down there. I don’t know about ‘Ers’ that much but he looks big. It looks like there’s not a lot of room.”
Ersson has said on a number of occasions the key is to just force the shooter to make the first move.
“There could be some psychology when it comes to that,” Tocchet said.
>Streak ends
The Flyers had allowed an opponent to score first in nine straight games until Friday.
Did it feel unusual playing with a lead?
“Obviously you always want to score first,” Tocchet said. “Today we wanted to make sure we were getting to our game early. Let’s face it, a three-goal lead is a big thing to have. Now, the in-between part we’ve just got to get better.
“We’re making progress, the guys worked hard. . .a couple wins on the road so far (including Wednesday in Florida).”
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