Flyers Extinguish The Flames 4-3 As Ersson Shines: Highlights and Analysis

With Samuel Ersson getting the nod between the pipes, he carried his unblemished 5-0 record into the Saddle Dome looking to extend his winning streak to 6 and he did not disappoint. Ersson turned aside 32 of 35 shots, on route to a 4-3 Flyers win.

1. He's Back!

After being the lone bright spot agaisnt the Kraken on Thursday, with two goals, a beautiful Individual effort by Travis Konecny opened the scoring. Konecny sold the wide shot and froze Noah Hanifan, who was caught flat footed on the cutback dangle.

Konecny ripped a wrist shot short side low and froze Jacob Markstrom, who has struggled between the pipes of late.

Another look!

Unfortunately, Konecny left the game with an upper body injury midway through the third period on a questionable hit by MacKenzie Weegar, as reported by Jordan Hall.

Konecny finished the night with a goal and an assist, but if his injury turns out to be a long term issue, any time he misses will drastically impact the Flyers already limited offense.

2. Set The Tone Early

Nick Seeler and Dennis Gilbert got into an early dust up after Gilbert pinched and rocked Nicolas Deslauriers with a solid hit.

Deslauriers definitely doesn't need anyone to fight his battles, but Seeler is player who plays by the code and it was great to see him jump in for his teammate.

Thanks to @NastyKnuckles for always providing coverage of the fisticuffs.

3. 2nd Period Snipes

At the tail end of a penalty kill, Cam York exited the box and picked up an outlet pass, that saw him on a 2 on 1 with Nicolas «Running Man» Deslauriers. Deslauriers, in his naturally awkward stride, outpaced the Flames and D and set a perfect target for York. A deft deflection rocketed into the top of the cage and gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead.

Responding to the Flames 2-1 goal, Tony DeAngelo was left a clear lane into the slot and unleashed a quick wrist shot past Markstrom's catcher.

The goal was DeAngelo's 10th of the season.

4. Samuel Ersson

Samuel Ersson, who was recalled from the minors, despite the move giving the Flyers 3 goalies on the active roster, was stellar on the night. Ersson made multiple glove saves off of prime scoring chances and covered a few of the Flyers defensive lapses.

Ersson's lone hiccup on the night came off of a cheeky shot by Tyler Toffoli. Toffoli sold pass and slide a hard shot along with ice, which beat Ersson five-hole before he could set

Even with a relatively small sample size, the emergence of Ersson gives the Flyers a legitimate one-two punch in net and should inspire confidence from the players in front of them.

5. Officiating

With the penalty count at 4 against the Flyers and 1 against the Flames, Mikael Backlind manufactured Calgary's tying goal with what can only be described as a deliberate cross check; a cross check that created a distinct advantage. Scott Laughton had zone coverage and was blatantly cross checked from behind and unable to regain his defensive posture prior to Andrew Mangiapane picking up the loose puck and sliding it past Ersson.

If a defender issued that cross check and negated a scoring opportunity, it would be called virtually every time. That penalty has to be called.

As shown above, Konecny also received a healthy hit from behind in plain view of the refs, which also went unpunished.

7. Winner Winner

Just over two and half minutes after Mangiapane was gifted the game tying goal, James Van Reimsdyk made a skilled pass by a sliding defender to Wade Allison. Allison crashed the crease and much like Deslauriers, set a target and deflected the pass into the yaw o g cage.

Allison played just north of 10 minutes and finished with 1 goal on 1 shot, 4 hits, and 1 blocked shot.

6. $80 Million Questions

Travis Sanheim played three seasons for the Calgary Hitmen and with friends and family in attendance, the $50 million dollar man was announced as a healthy scratch for the game after taking warmup.

Sanheim wasn't the only Flyers player to feel the wrath of Tortorella against the Flames, as Joel Farabee chalked up 3:52 of total ice time. Farabee is in the first year of his $30 million dollar contract.

That is a major investment by Cliff Fletcher, that doesn't appear to be paying dividends early on. Perhaps the time spent watching the game will revitalize the pair, as Farabee in particular will be needed to fill the Konecny may have potentially left.

The Flyers make the short trip to Edmonton to take on Connor McDavid on Tuesday night.