Flyers Turn To New Goalie Kolosov But Fall Again To Canadiens – Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens

Most of Sunday was a great day to be a Philadelphia sports fan. The Eagles clinched their most convincing win of the season against the Cincinnati Bengals. After that, the 76ers got their first victory in the overtime race over the Indiana Pacers. The odds of a Philadelphia three-peat victory were very much on the table.

But the Montreal Canadiens have canceled out the battle between the two Eastern Conference teams entering Sunday at the bottom of their division. The Canadiens, who defeated the St. Louis Blues on Saturday up in Montreal, went to Philadelphia and didn’t skip a beat in most Sunday night contests.

The Flyers also played on Saturday but didn’t have to go after winning the track contest 7-5 against the Minnesota Wild. But the Canadiens were better than themselves on Sunday, handing Philadelphia its seventh loss (and sixth in regulation) in nine games to start the season with a 4-3 final score.

Aleksei Kolosov’s Even NHL Debut

The main story of the game was revealed a few hours after the conclusion of Saturday’s competition. Not only did the Flyers recall Emil Andrae and Cam York to injury prevention but they encouraged 22-year-old Aleksei Kolosov to make his NHL debut between the pipes. Kolosov’s numbers through three games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms were not spectacular (.875 save percentage). But with Ivan Fedotov struggling and Kolosov’s potential remaining high, the Flyers gave him a chance to play with the big club.

Kolosov got off to a shaky start, throwing a few pucks and seeing Lane Hutson zip a shot past him and into the post. However, he got better as the first half went on, stopping 10 of 11 shots on a point-blank rebound from Nick Suzuki. He then showed off his athleticism with a stunning post-to-post save on a 2-on-0 chance from Cole Caufield early in the second half. Although the shot was blocked by Kolosov, it was a goal, just staying in the area was impressive after Jamie Drysdale lost the round and put Caufield and Suzuki out of the running.

However, the Canadiens would shoot him three times before time expired. The second goal was unsaveable thanks to a crazy carom from Brendan Gallagher and the fourth goal was a defensive breakdown that left Jake Evans open at the back. But between them, Caufield hit a backbreaker that slipped under Kolosov’s blocker and passed him for a goal so shocking it took the Wells Fargo Center crowd a few seconds to register.

Caufield has a great shot – tied with Nikita Kucherov for second in the NHL (eight), behind only Nico Hischier. But no striker wants to let a shot pass them, especially with their team inside the goal. Kolosov got a little redemption with a good stop on Caufield in the first seconds of the third period. While he suffered a loss, those close to Kolosov spoke highly of his performance.

“I thought our goalkeeper played well. I thought he made a great deal of money,” said John Tortorella.

“I thought [he] it was a good evening for us,” said Scott Laughton. “I thought he represented us and did a good job.”

Kolosov finished with a .833 SV%, slightly higher than Fedotov’s .822 mark. He allowed 1.38 more goals than expected according to Moneypuck, which feels right – Caufield’s goal should have been stopped but the others weren’t on him. Fedotov is still on an NHL roster so there are a number of possible ways things could play out, with everything from turning a backup spot to Fedotov’s American Hockey League status (which he would have to admit when asked) a plausible outcome. And for the Flyers, that’s an unusual amount of goal uncertainty so few weeks into the season.

Late Returns Can’t Beat “Interrupted” Play

The 4-3 final both flattered the Flyers and showed their determination. Down three goals entering the third period, they came out of the gates sluggish, testing Cayden Primeau three times in the first half of the frame. Their game started to get a little more intense, but they fell short with less than three minutes left to play. It didn’t look like Tortorella was going to bother pulling Kolosov for another attacker.

But the two Travis’ Flyers put the team in an impossible draw situation. Travis Sanheim scored his second goal of the night on a low cut down the middle of the ice and a perfectly placed wrist shot. Just 29 seconds later, Owen Tippett came through a quiet night to set up Travis Konecny ​​with a nice feed to bring the Flyers within one. The Flyers pressed in the last 90 seconds with Kolosov sitting on the bench but could not get the last chance to get a point.

However, even if they had completed their comeback, it would not have completely hidden the problems affecting the team. While the Flyers scored seven goals on Saturday, Scott Laughton noted after the game that it wasn’t offensive if the team scored six goals in two periods. When asked about his thoughts on the team’s play, Laughton called the Flyers “disconnected,” a sentiment that Tortorella, Sanheim and Garnet Hathaway all agreed with.

“I think we have to support our defenders better. They will go back for pucks, we are waiting on the wall, we are too high for them. They don’t have a game, we’re standing still, we’re not going to get in the way,” added Laughton.

Finding a reason for not meeting is a difficult task. The Flyers had very little personnel to spend the offseason and retained their entire coaching staff. This should be a time to move forward, not get stuck in quicksand.

“There are a lot of fighting boys out there. [Tippett is] to fight it. Tyson [Foerster]14 minutes tonight, not a shot on goal. Those are the things, like I said, this year is a year where the players who got better last year need to be even better this year… We just need to humble ourselves and the biggest thing is to be together on the ice, to be together back in our place. Part of it for me is that I would like to see us play as soon as possible. It doesn’t seem like we’re playing fast. I think that hurts us there.”

Tortorella and Hathaway also noted that the Flyers don’t have the luxury of sneaking up on teams like they did in the first half of last season. The Flyers also struggled mightily in the second half, though Totortorella downplayed the long turnover as the reason for the team’s struggles.

There were a few that stood out, though. Laughton’s third line of Ryan Poehling and Joel Farabee made several good plays, including Philadelphia’s first goal when Poehling set up Sanheim for a puck that went over Farabee’s screen. Both their line (54.41% expected goals) and the Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates and Tippett trio (70% xGF) did more than they allowed, although the latter did not stand out much in my eyes and were on the ice for a goal. against.

Emil Andrae, meanwhile, replaced the struggling Egor Zamula, who looked a lot different than the distraught young man he sported in his four-game NHL interview early last season. His 17:28 ice time was a career high as he looked active and confident with the puck. He also replaced Zamula on the second power play unit, although his performance there was not as good. Like Kolosov, Andrae is 22 years old, so there is still time to grow. But on Sunday he showed that Andrae can hang in the NHL, something that was a big improvement for him last season.

What’s Next

The Flyers will be underdogs when they head to TD Garden to face the Boston Bruins. Like the Flyers, the Bruins haven’t been playing great hockey to start the season, sitting just one point off the bottom of the Atlantic Division at 4-4-1. They were an incredibly poor playing team (25th in xGF%). Three of the top four goal scorers are Cole Koepke, Mark Kastelic and John Beecher, as everyone predicted.

Related: The 10 Greatest Flyers Enforcers Since 2000

Still, the Bruins are a talented team on paper and are coming off an emotional overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, with Brad Marchand getting his first goal of the season in OT. They will look to ride that into the final game of a three-game homestand that begins Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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