Flyers goalies continue to be strength of defense

Although Samuel Ersson left Thursday's game in Vancouver early due to dehydration, he still put up a solid performance only allowing one goal on 19 shots with a .947 save percentage. After he exited, Hart picked up right where Ersson left off and stopped all eight shots as the Flyers cruised to a 4-1 victory over one of the NHL's top clubs.

After missing quite some time with an undisclosed illness, the last few days have been extremely promising for Carter Hart. After being what coach Tortorella called "outstanding" in relief for Ersson and then responding the next night with 27 saves, Hart seems to be back in full force. Hart struggled in his first game back in Detroit allowing five goals in the first period on Dec. 22, but was solid the rest of the game not allowing a single goal as the Flyers were able to battle back before falling in a shootout.

With both goalies performing at an extremely high level, the Flyers have many advantages. Most importantly, rest. The Flyers and coach Tortorella are able to stagger the goalies and their start days and give them ample time to recover from starts. We saw in Friday's game against Seattle that the team was exhausted in the late third period in overtime. With both goalies good to go, they are able to maximize the health of both goalies and put the team in the best position to succeed.

Samuel Ersson currently sits with a record of 9-4-2 with a .902 save percentage with two shutouts on the year and Carter Hart currently sits with a record of 9-6-3 with a .915 save percentage and one shutout on the year. Potentially, the Flyers could end the year with two top-ten goalies. Not a bad position to be in at all.