After last night’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres, all eyes were on Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladař, as the Czechia native was forced out of the contest due to an undisclosed injury.
Vladař looked to have hurt himself on Rasmus Dahlin’s first goal of the game after a mad scramble in front of the net had him spinning around in his crease. He ultimately let in one more goal in the period before being pulled in favour of Samuel Ersson, having allowed 2 goals on 5 shots.
Ersson didn’t really fare any better as he let in 2 goals on 8 shots in the final 40 minutes. Despite the shot disparity, the Sabres did a really good job at controlling the pace of the game through the first 2 periods, before the Flyers tried to mount a comeback in the third.
With that in mind, and the Flyers back in action again later tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins, they decided to recall goaltender Aleksei Kolosov from the AHL. Additionally, they placed forward Bobby Brink on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury, which is retroactive to the 6th of January.
Brink can return off injured reserve at any time since his retroactive date was over a week ago, however his placement on IR opened a roster spot for Kolosov to be recalled.
The Flyers have now lost 4 straight games for the first time this season, with their last 3 having all come in regulation at a combined deficit of 17-5. They’ve also slipped from 3rd in the Metropolitan Division to 5th in the Wild Card race, as they sit behind the likes of Pittsburgh, Toronto, Boston, and Buffalo.
Granted, the Flyers are only 2 points behind Buffalo and Boston for a playoff spot, but their overall gameplay these last few days has been deplorable. Tonight’s game against their cross-state rivals is a monumental one and the Penguins will be looking for some luck as well, having dropped their last 3 contests with just 2 goals scored in that span – but only 4 official goals allowed.
Ersson will more than likely get the nod tonight as they hope Vladař could be ready for their weekend contest against the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, the schedule is extremely congested until the Olympic break, as the Flyers have 11 games remaining until the 5th of February, which means we could see a healthy dose of Ersson and Kolosov should Vladař be forced to miss time.
Kolosov has fared a lot better this season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with a 9-9-1 record, a .908 SV%, and a 2.54 GAA, which are stark improvements over his totals from last year that saw him post a 5-6-1 record, a .884 SV% and a 3.11 GAA at the AHL level.
His NHL numbers left a lot to be desired as well, as he ended up appearing in 17 games last year to the tune of a 5-9-1 record, a .867 SV%, and a 3.57 GAA. This will be his second stint with the big club in 2025-26, as he posted a .929 SV% and a 1.62 GAA in 2 appearances earlier in the year, including a start against Calgary on November 2nd.
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