Lifted by two rookies in shootout, Flyers win goaltending duel over Islanders originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
A pair of rookies delivered heroics for the Flyers in a 1-0 shootout win Saturday night over the Islanders at UBS Arena.
Samuel Ersson was brilliant between the pipes and Tyson Foerster scored the lone tally in the skills competition.
Travis Konecny blocked a big shot at the end of regulation.
Those performances gave the Flyers a deserving victory in Elmont, New York, where they had lost just three days ago.
John Tortorella’s club snapped a two-game skid. The win was needed for the Flyers’ psyche after the team’s Black Friday letdown to the Rangers in front of a big crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers (11-9-1) don’t play the Islanders (8-6-6) again until April 1, when the clubs wrap up their three-game regular-season series in Philadelphia.
From now until then, the Flyers won’t miss seeing Ilya Sorokin.
• Ersson, who came in 3-1-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average and .921 save percentage over his last four starts, was masterful in overtime and the shootout.
The 24-year-old converted three saves in OT before denying Bo Horvat, Oliver Wahlstrom, Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri in the skills competition.
Ersson was also very good in regulation.
He made a huge save on Julien Gauthier with 8:37 minutes left in the second period, bailing out Marc Staal, whose turnover set up the point-blank chance.
Two-plus minutes into the third period, Ersson denied Gauthier in close again.
He finished with 25 saves and it sure looks like he has regained a ton of his confidence after a tough start to the season. Outdueling a goalie like Sorokin can only help in the confidence department.
Sorokin, last season’s Vezina Trophy runner-up, stopped 40 shots.
He turned away Cam Atkinson, Sean Couturier and Morgan Frost in the shootout before the 21-year-old Foerster beat him on a nice shot.
Foerster was active all night, putting six shots on Sorokin in 18:09 minutes.
The New York netminder entered 9-2-1 with a 1.63 goals-against average and .944 save percentage lifetime against the Flyers. In two starts against the Flyers over the last four days, Sorokin denied 74 of 76 shots (.974 save percentage).
His effort Saturday night was timely considering the Islanders were without defensemen Adam Pelech and Sebastian Aho, both of whom suffered injuries Friday night.
• The Flyers’ penalty kill has surrendered just one goal in the last seven games. It’s 21 for 22 over that stretch after going 3 for 3 against New York.
The Flyers’ power play saw its one and only opportunity Saturday night over five minutes into the third period.
• Rasmus Ristolainen was activated off long-term injured reserve and made his season debut. The 29-year-old defenseman missed the Flyers’ first 20 games because of a lower-body issue.
He joined Staal on the third defensive pair and played a solid, simple game. He was whistled for a tripping penalty but finished with three shots, three hits and two blocked shots in 17:49 minutes.
Staal made up for his turnover by putting his defensive savviness on display throughout the game.
Playing the second half of a back-to-back set, the Flyers gave Egor Zamula a breather. The 23-year-old was a healthy scratch along with Bobby Brink and Louie Belpedio.
With Ristolainen and Staal now healthy, the Flyers will have daily decisions to make on the back end between veterans and youngsters.
“We’re going to play the young guys, but we also have to take care of the young guys and not put them in spots that we’re hurting them, hurting their development,” Tortorella said a little over a week ago. “Because I’ve seen it, when teams kind of give in and just keep playing the young guys — some guys don’t recover and they don’t play in the league. That’s so unfair.”
Frost, a healthy scratch for 10 games this season, was back in the lineup for Brink. The 24-year-old center played well. He was active offensively and made some things happen on the power play.
• The Flyers are scheduled to practice Monday at 11 a.m. ET in Voorhees, New Jersey before hosting the Hurricanes on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET/ESPN+, Hulu).
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