John Tortorella Still Has Faith in Goalie Sam Ersson as the Philadelphia Flyers Playoff Chances Dwindle

The Philadelphia Flyers’ playoff chances are hanging on by a thread and that’s BECAUSE OF goaltender Sam Ersson. 

The point was hammered home by Flyers’ head coach John Tortorella when he spoke with the media on Thursday after practice in Voorhees, New Jersey:

“We’re not even talking about trying to be better to get in at this time if it wasn’t for Sam. It’s a crazy situation with our goaltending this year. We don’t have a sniff of having an opportunity with six games left to get in if Sam Ersson doesn’t play the way he has played.

He’s played a ton of hockey of late. That was a decision we made, I just didn’t have confidence in some situations with our backups at that particular time. He has probably played too much. But we have not lost a moment of confidence in Sam.”

• Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella on goalie Sam Ersson

Hear from Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella following Thursday’s practice at @FlyersTCenter. #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/Udzi5nutoF

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 4, 2024

Everything Tortorella said about Ersson is correct. 

Ersson’s play after being thrown into the starting goalie position due to allegations surrounding former starting goalie Carter Hart has been nothing short of spectacular. His performance this season in the face of extenuating circumstances —a 21-16-0-7 with 2.81 GAA and .891 SV%— is exactly what Philadelphia fans want from their athletes. Hell, films have been made about Philadelphia professional athletes that have done a lot less.

Back to Tortorella being correct on his assessment of his goalie.

Tortorella is correct, Ersson has played a ton of hockey for the Flyers in 2023-24. The 24-year-old has played in 46 games this season for the orange and black which easily eclipses his 12 game NHL career high from the 2022-23 season. He played in as many games this March alone. Ersson has appeared in 27 of the Flyers last 32 games, tied for the most in the NHL. That’s a mind-boggling stat for a goalie that was expected to be the backup netminder.

It’s clear the number of games is affecting Ersson’s level of play. 

Ersson has struggled over the past ten games including being pulled in three games. In the last ten games, Ersson is 3-4-2 with 4.09 goals against average and a .848 save percentage. It doesn’t help that Ersson has had a handful of AHL call ups playing defense in front of him but that stat line is very sobering. Especially considering Ersson posted a 6-3-2 record with 2.36 goals against average and .908 save percentage coming out of the NHL All-Star break. 

The good news for Ersson is backup has arrived from Russia of all places.

The Flyers somehow swindled goalie Ivan Fedotov from the gulag and into a backup role in Philadelphia. The mammoth 6 ‘7 goalie was originally drafted in the 7th round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Flyers but was forced to play in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) under extremely suspicious circumstances. A former KHL “Goalie of the Year” finalist with CSKA Moscow, Fedotov’s arrival comes at an opportune time for the Flyers. 

THE BIG MAN JOINED THE BAND. #NYIvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/ibQl2KwU5q

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 2, 2024

Still, despite the heralded arrival of the Russian Giant, Ersson is going to be the guy the Flyers rely on as they make an improbable run at the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Flyers will need every bit of the best from Ersson over the remaining six games of the 2023-24 NHL regular season. Philadelphia currently holds the third position in the Metropolitan Division due to a tiebreaker over the rival New York Islanders.

Sam Ersson Career Stats