VOORHEES, New Jersey — Philadelphia Flyers goaltender and Sweden native Sam Ersson wasn’t familiar with the term “Bronx cheer” before arriving to North America.
He knows what it means now, though.
Recently, he was the recipient of one. On Jan. 13, in the Flyers’ home game against the Florida Panthers, Ersson allowed a pair of goals just a minute and a half apart in the first period, the second of which came on a shot from Uvis Balinskis on what should have been a routine stop. When Ersson was able to turn away a 31-foot wrist shot from Tobias Bjornfot on the Panthers’ next attempt, the Wells Fargo Center crowd offered its sarcastic appreciation.
No one would blame Flyers fans for being perturbed with the state of their goaltending this season (or many others over the last four decades). But Ersson didn’t let it rattle him. He recalled a similar situation last season in one of his first starts when he struggled at home against the Anaheim Ducks, after which general manager Daniel Briere made sure to chat with him after the game to help ease his mind.
That sort of conversation probably isn’t necessary now. Ersson, through the ups and downs of what is still the early part of his career, has shown a knack for being mentally resilient. Coach John Tortorella has mentioned it many times, and repeated it again on Monday after an off-day practice.
“I’ve never had a problem with that guy, Ers, as far as assessing himself,” Tortorella said.
That was reflected in Ersson’s recollection of that moment against Florida a week ago.
“Maybe it was a bad goal there, the second one, and you get to hear it a little bit (from the crowd),” he said. “But you know you can turn it around, too. For me it’s just, don’t get too high, don’t get too low. Just knowing that if I keep focusing and doing my thing … that usually helps for me to kind of successfully come out of that.”
That’s what happened, too. Ersson kept his composure and made a number of key saves throughout the remainder of that game, allowing the Flyers to erase a 2-0 deficit and win perhaps their best game of the season 4-3 over the defending Stanley Cup champions.
And now, the Flyers’ goaltending as a whole is unquestionably in a better place than it’s been all season long, when it was quite literally the league’s worst. Since the Christmas break, Ersson is 6-1-0 with a .930 save percentage and 1.66 goals-against average, while Ivan Fedotov has settled in as the No. 2 — a role Tortorella confirmed was his on Monday. Despite not winning any of his three starts, Fedotov looks worlds better than he did in October, stopping 62 of 70 shots in his last three games, one of which came in an overtime loss to Columbus on Jan. 14 in which he was the primary reason the Flyers were able to secure a point.
Some of the underlying numbers reflect that the team in front of its goaltenders has been playing solid hockey for most of the season — they’re seventh in expected goals percentage, for example, per Natural Stat Trick — they’ve just been let down by their goaltending. But when the goalies simply stop the shots they’re supposed to, while coming up big in some important moments, recent results including a 4-0-1 mark in their last five games suggest they can hang with just about anyone — a hallmark of last season’s club, until the late collapse.
Samuel Ersson makes a save against the New Jersey Devils in a game the Flyers won 3-1. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
But it’s more than just the goalies. Tortorella mentioned after Saturday’s 2-1 win in New Jersey in which the Flyers gave up just 14 shots — and blocked 31 — that about a month and a half ago when the goalies weren’t making enough saves, the coaching staff made it a focus that the group had to be even better and more structured defensively.
“At that time we had to play better in front of (the goalies) to allow them to try to get their games back,” Tortorella said on Saturday.
To his credit, and theirs, they bought in. They’ve allowed more than 30 shots just once in their last 20 games, allowing the fourth-fewest in the NHL this season (26.3 per game).
“We always concentrate on away from the puck,” Tortorella expanded on Monday. “But when (we were) really having a tough time keeping the puck out of our net, we kind of doubled up on it. Keep on playing, keep on trying to play the right way. When you get your goaltending to be good, which it has been, you find a way to get some wins.”
“I think you can see our structure has progressively gotten better,” defenseman Nick Seeler said. “Over this past month, we kind of got back to the way we have to play, especially blocking shots and being in the middle, and clogging up the middle.”
Something that’s helped, too, is the communication between Ersson and the players in front of him. The Flyers have prioritized blocking shots and lead the league in that category with 865. In some ways that makes the goalie’s job easier, of course, but that also means there is more of a chance for a shot to get just enough of a defending stick or body in front to change direction.
Seeler, the Flyers’ leader in blocks with 106 (sixth in the NHL), keeps his ears open in the defensive zone in case Ersson is yelling for him to let him see the puck.
“I think by now Ers knows that we’re going to block pretty much every shot we can, but there are times where Ers tells me he wants to see it — and I can hear that, and I just need to be able to read off of what he’s saying,” Seeler said.
Speaking after the win over the Devils, Ersson said: “I cannot complain that we’re good at defending. It’s up to me to stay sharp and be ready mentally for when that shot comes.”
That hasn’t been a problem of late. And the timing couldn’t be better, with important games against the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and New York Islanders this week.
“I think it was a little bit of a matter of time to know sooner or later it turns around,” Ersson said of his game, “and I definitely feel like last couple games, have got some bounces.”
“I think we’re playing with a ton of confidence right now,” Seeler said. “You can feel the energy in the group.”
(Top photo of Samuel Ersson: Eric Hartline / Imagn Images)
