The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Flyers Brian Elliott isn’t human, he’s a stone wall

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Ouch, ouch, ouch, everything Philadelphia Flyers steady netminder Brian Elliott touches is on fire. Elliott is en fuego, and he is the unsung hero on this six game winning streak. The steady netminder seems to be back into form, like his days with the St. Louis Blues.

With the Flyers losers of ten straight games about two weeks ago. One player that was consistent, and very good was the man between the pipes in Elliott. Finally, from the Lord above one position the orange and black don’t have to worry about is goaltending. Thanks to Elliott there’s no more, “Mr. Softies,” with goals…Is now a good time to say he is the best Flyers goalie since Ron Hextall?

Elliott was signed by the Flyers to a two-year deal on the opening day of free agency this past June, as a stop-gap goaltender for the up and coming young netminders in Carter Hart, Anthony Stolarz, Alex Lyon, and Felix Sandstrom. A steady netminder in Elliott has been nothing short of phenomenal for the season thus far. He has a 12-6-6 record with a 2.61 GAA, and a .915 save percentage. These numbers are close to his career numbers of 2.43 GAA, and a .913 save percentage. However, this season’s numbers don’t tell the whole story.

With a young defensive corps (oldest Defenseman is 31 years old), Elliott has stood on his head in more than half his games played. For instance, Elliott backstopped 47 saves on 52 shots faced in a 5-4 overtime loss, to the rival Pittsburgh Penguins on November 27. His confidence seemed to grow as the season has progressed. While making his fifth consecutive start against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. Elliott was great again between the pipes making 20 saves, en route to a Flyers fourth straight victory 4-2. His tandem netminder Michal Neuvirth has been out for the past two weeks with a leg injury, and Elliott hasn’t looked back since.

Well, Brian’s been good from day one so he’s an outstanding pro, he shows up and he does his job and he does it very well for our team,” Head Coach Dave Hakstol stated after the game.

Elliott has impressive stats on the six game winning streak. He has only given up 9 goals on 171 shots faced, for an average of 1.5 goals per game. Elliott is literally a human wall. Of course, he mishandled a puck against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, which lead to a goal. But, those will happen from time to time. The Flyers won the game 2-1 on the back Elliott, as they coasted to a fifth straight victory. Moreover, Elliott made 27 saves on 28 shots faced in a 2-1 victory against the Dallas Stars on Saturday. He is just dialed in, and Hakstol continues to praise him.

Our team has confidence in him. That’s a real position of strength for our bench and for the guys that are out on the ice. It’s not just the things that you see on a nightly basis on game nights. Brian does such a good job on a daily basis of approaching his day of work. I think that is something guys can feed off of. They know he does the work. He is prepared. I think that gives everyone a level of confidence.”

The Flyers locker room is feeling pretty good these days, and a lot of that has to do with this awesome goaltending they’re getting in Elliott. He is flat-out better than anyone could have ever imagined, especially after the Flyers 2-1 victory against the Stars.

We knew that they were going to have a good push at the start of the game and they wouldn’t be able to keep it up playing back to back. I thought our guys did a really good job just kind of sticking to that game plan and patiently persistent, we talk about, and just keep going with all the little things; getting the pucks in, getting the pucks out at our blue line, and we just kept doing that,Elliott stated following the victory against the Stars on Saturday.I don’t think anyone really thought we were going to lose that one so I think that’s a really positive feeling in our locker room.”

Elliott is bringing confidence into the locker room. The Flyers are hot right now, and it has the players feeling good. Moreover, Flyers fans aren’t accustomed to seeing this great goaltending they’re receiving from a stone wall in Elliott. Hopefully, it continues tonight as Elliott and the Flyers go for their seventh straight victory against the Los Angeles Kings at 7pm.

 

Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports