The Philadelphia Flyers went to the Las Vegas strip to start 2025 after a 4-0 shutout win against the San Jose Sharks. However, goalie Sam Ersson is not entering 2025 healthy. The 25-year-old is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, so the Flyers started Alexi Kolosov on the net Thursday night.
Flyers vs Golden Knights recap
Philly started the game strong as Tyson Foerster got the puck past Ilya Samsonov only 21 seconds into the contest. This was a great offensive play by Philadelphia, as the orange and black could keep the puck in the offensive zone and be aggressive. Despite Philadelphia’s efforts throughout the first, it was the only time the Flyers would have the lead in the contest.
After the first frame, Philadelphia’s aggressive hockey winded down. Fifty-one seconds into the second frame, the Golden Knights’ captain, Mark Stone, started the scoring for the home team. A few minutes later, Nicolas Hague had a wrap-around shot that Kolosov couldn’t save. The speediness of the play required the netminder to have a quick reaction time, but with Kolosov only being a rookie, he reacted too slowly to Hague’s shot.
The Flyers did have a decent number of shots on goal but they couldn’t get the puck behind Samsonov again in the second. Pavel Dorofeyev had a powerful snapshot late on that gave the Golden Knights a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame. The Flyers giving up three goals in 20 minutes was concerning as they couldn’t find their footing after the Stone goal that led off the second frame.
In the third period, the hope of making a comeback was quickly deflated as Alexander Holtz scored the Golden Knights’ fourth goal of the contest nearly three minutes in. However, the Flyers were able to score a consolation goal on the power play. Travis Konencny had a stellar wrist shot that brought the game to a two-goal deficit, giving the Flyers some much-needed hope as the goal was scored within the first four minutes of the final frame.
While the Flyers tried to bring the game to a one-goal deficit at least, the orange and black couldn’t, and with an empty Flyers net, Tanner Pearson regained the Golden Knights’ three-goal lead. With a momentous start by Foerster to then struggle throughout the second frame, the Flyers fell to the VGK 5-2.
One of the main problems for the Flyers was Kolosov not having a fast enough reaction time. This has been a problem for him lately and it’s showing more and more. Bench boss John Tortorella commented following the loss, “I’m not going to evaluate Aleksei.” While Tortorella has been vocal about not commenting on the goalies, this was telling. With Ersson not being able to stay healthy and the Flyers having Kolosov and Fedotov in their bullpen, it’s not sustainable. The Flyers have been in a situation with no depth within their goalies for over a year. Drafting a goalie wouldn’t make sense with the timeline since they take a while to develop. Philadelphia’s best option is to trade for a strong goalie; however, with the limited cap space, the team might have to eliminate some of their money-sucking contracts.
The Flyers have a few days off before taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto this Sunday night.
Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
