Philadelphia Flyers goalie, Sam Ersson has played in 42 NHL games and 47 AHL games. The rookie is in his hockey infancy. The fact that he’s 24 is a plus because he’s very mature but as far as game experience. He’s still gaining a lot of that on the job.
42 games are the most he’s ever played in. That was back in 2020-21 back when he played for Brynas. He will go over that. The Flyers have to manage that, and if that means using Cal Petersen a few more times than you like, you do it because the future is more important than one playoff drive.
In the Stadium Series loss, he didn’t have his best game. Neither did the team, but in the end, when a team isn’t playing their game, the goalies are expected to pick up the slack.
“We certainly weren’t at our best,” said John Tortorella. “Sam made some really good saves. I’m sure he’d like to have a couple back. It’s not our goaltender. That’s not the reason why we lost.”
The goaltending didn’t help. And that’s the issue here. The amount of pressure placed on Ersson’s shoulders here is great. The coach will try and alleviate as much of it as possible. Veteran goalies can have trouble down the stretch. What Ersson will do down the stretch is the great unknown.
“Anytime you lose and give up five goals you want to have them back,” Ersson stated. “In a game like this, I feel like I could have stood up a little bit more. Played a little bit better for the team. Find a way to win this game.”
There is no roadmap here on how to get a young goalie who wasn’t the #1 to start the year, all of a sudden become the guy, and then try and hold down a playoff spot. It will be interesting to see how this ends up.
Devils Goaltending Needs Upgrading
New Jersey Devils goalie, Nico Daws beat the Flyers in the Stadium Series. At 23, he’s only played 37 NHL games. He’s pretty good but the Devils are expected to make the playoffs this year and go a few rounds. They beat the New York Rangers last season in the playoffs and now they are trailing the Flyers by five points with two games in hand for the third spot in the Metro, which is probably their path to the playoffs.
After speaking with some insiders it seems like the Devils are still after Jacob Markstrom but it’s hard to piece together money out for the Devils so they can minimize the cap hit. Calgary will retain but that’s not going to be enough. So let’s see what happens. The Devils need something. Maybe Jake Allen is their backup plan? The clock is ticking on the Devils season and right now the Flyers are the main team that they have the best chance of catching and a game on April 13th could be big. But that’s an if at this point.
