The Flyers' final game of the preseason comes Thursday against the Islanders.
One more to go. After that, the real fun begins.
From young players battling for roster spots to veterans getting themselves tuned up for the regular season, the 2023 preseason has produced a myriad of storylines to monitor. Monday night in the Philadelphia Flyers' 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins at Wells Fargo Center, fans were given another glimpse of the latest camp developments.
Game 5 of the Flyers' preseason didn't get off to the most pristine of starts after Bruins forward Morgan Geekie opened the scoring on the power play to give his club an early lead. However, a strong start to the second period proved to be the game's turning point.
Just over a minute into the middle frame, forward Cam Atkinson netted his first marker of the preseason to knot the game up at one goal apiece. Less than a minute later, Travis Konecny scored his first goal of the preseason, beating Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman with a wrister through the five-hole. Joel Farabee later scored the Flyers' third goal of the stanza when he redirected a Ronnie Attard point blast past Swayman.
Preseason or not, Atkinson's tally was an important one. It had been well over a year since he last scored a goal in an official NHL game, but after an admittedly rusty showing in Saturday night's 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils, Atkinson appeared to be in pre-injury form, putting himself in scoring position and helping to generate high danger chances throughout the contest.
"It was nice. I can still score in this league," Atkinson joked with the media after the game.
"I feel good. I feel like I put myself in tougher areas and felt good bouncing off hits and making plays and holding on to the puck. I'm only gonna continue to feel better and more confident."
Roster hopefuls Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster both suited up for Monday night's tilt, and both performed well. Brink, however, was a bit more noticeable.
Starting the game on the fourth line, the 22-year-old seemed to generate a scoring chance or make a key play on every shift — particularly when he took the ice on the power play, where he flourished as a puck distributor along the half boards. Before long, he was elevated to a top-six role after his excellent start to the contest.
Brink didn't register a point on the night, but he certainly didn't fall short of making another strong impression.
"It's hard for me to keep Bobby Brink away from a top-six spot right now as far as how many plays he's making," Flyers head coach John Tortorella told the media after the game.
"I think he has that innate ability that you can't teach to see the next play. He continues to impress. We've gotta keep on going through the next week and then we'll see where it all falls."
Foerster also had a solid showing. He only registered one shot on goal, but finished the night with 17:17 of ice time — tops among all Flyers forwards not named Sean Couturier. In terms of flashiness, though, he has quite a lot of ground to make up behind Brink.
In a game which goaltender Sam Ersson needed a strong performance, he largely delivered. In the midst of a battle for the backup goalie job behind Carter Hart, Ersson finished the night with 13 stops on 14 shots.
It wasn't a particularly busy night for Ersson, but games with minimal involvement can sometimes be the most difficult for goaltenders.
"It was kind of a weird game. A lot of long moments where they didn't really have that many chances or shots, but that's a challenge in itself," Ersson told the media after the game.
"Every game is a challenge and every game is an opportunity for me to show what I can do, and I've gotta show that I'm able to win these games as well."
Of the three goalies gunning for the No. 2 goalie spot, Ersson has looked most qualified to earn the full-time backup role. Cal Petersen, while impressive in his half-game showing against the Bruins on Friday, was disastrous in the Flyers' preseason opener against the New Jersey Devils. Felix Sandstrom, meanwhile, has been steady in his limited preseason action, but has failed to separate himself as a clear-cut frontrunner for the backup role.
Despite looking like the clear winner of the backup goalie battle, though, it's possible Ersson could still be loaned to Lehigh Valley for the start of the season. Unlike Ersson, Sandstrom and Petersen are not waiver exempt, meaning the Flyers would be in danger of losing them for nothing if they were to be placed on waiver for purposes of joining the Phantoms. Thanks to Petersen's hefty contract, he would likely pass through waivers without issue. Sandstrom, on the other hand, could be an attractive add for a club in need of goalie depth.
Ersson is under contract through the 2025-26 campaign while Sandstrom's contract expires at the end of this season. If the Flyers opt to let Sandstrom retain his role as Hart's backup, another year of heavy usage in the AHL may not be the worst thing for Ersson.
The Flyers return to action for their final game of the preseason Thursday night when they take on the New York Islanders at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers fell to the Islanders in their first meeting of the preseason, losing by a score of 2-1 at UBS Arena.