The Philadelphia Flyers suffered a disheartening 6-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, causing a a flurry of anxiety and discourse across social media regarding the state of the team.
The Philadelphia Flyers suffered a disheartening 6-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, causing a a flurry of anxiety and discourse across social media regarding the state of the team.
The Philadelphia Flyers suffered a disheartening 6-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, causing a a flurry of anxiety and discourse across social media regarding the state of the team.
Although hopes weren't high that the Flyers would be able to beat the Leafs, many fans were left shocked and disappointed by the quality of the performance. With numerous defensive slip-ups, not being able to finish scoring chances, and a game against the Boston Bruins looming on Saturday, the Flyers will need some serious recuperation while they travel.
Overworking Ersson?
Sam Ersson was pulled for the second time in three games against the Leafs, causing immense concern over his energy levels and how many games he's been starting since returning from the All-Star Break. The rookie goalie has played five times in 10 days, and has had to put some seriously heroic saves to try and make up for a stumbling defense. Many fans have voiced their worry that Ersson is being overexerted, and simply doesn't have enough experience in the No. 1 spot to handle the amount of pressure and maintain the level of play hopeful fans have demanded from him since he found his footing as a top-level goalie.
Of course, Ersson is an NHL goalie and must be held to NHL standards. However, it absolutely does need to be taken into account that Ersson is 24 years old, in his first NHL season, and is still getting accustomed to the No. 1 goalie spot after spending a large part of the season as a backup goalie. Getting thrown into the prime spot after what was surely a mentally draining saga for the entire team (regarding Carter Hart's alleged involvement in the 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal) is not an easy thing to do. Ersson has handled the situation with grace, maturity, and has made no excuses for when his game isn't where it needs to be.
Getting his game back could be as simple as just letting him rest and letting Felix Sandstrom get some reps in so he doesn't feel thrown into the deep end whenever he does have to step in for a game.
Surviving The Regular Season
Although head coach John Tortorella has been preaching the need for "playoff hockey" at this point in the season, that was not what viewers saw against the Leafs. It's come to the point where the Flyers are relying more on other teams to lose, rather than winning games in a convincing fashion.
They have a challenging schedule ahead of them, and while they're still have a very high chance of making it to the playoffs, they don't look like a team prepared to play the kind of hockey required to make an actual run in the postseason. Right now, the feeling is that they're just trying to make it through the regular season and cross the playoffs bridge when they get there. It's been a chaotic and exhausting season—even if you're just counting from January onwards. While tanking the regular season proved to not be an option this time around, it may be worth it to get out of the playoffs early and focus on restructuring the team during the summer.
Prospect Watch
With the disappointing performances coming out of some members of the current roster, people have turned their attention to the Flyers' stacked prospect pool as a solution to some of the team's struggles.
With 18-year-old Denver Barkey recently signing his entry-level contract for the Flyers, along with the promise of Matvei Michkov, 19, in 2026, the offense looks to be getting a significant boost in the near future.
Then, with 19-year-old Oliver Bonk able to bolster the defense and the power play, the blue line will be getting a much-needed youthful injection that better fits the direction the front office wants to take with this team—veterans to help educate, but young players being the main focus.
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