Instant reactions: Sam Ersson LIT UP by Nikita Kucherov in Flyers blow-out loss

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The Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning play again in South Philly on Monday, and if you missed this one, just skip ahead to the next one. Because with Dan Vladar it might be a semi-interesting game. But with Sam Ersson in net, Rick Tocchet’s club never had a chance, despite playing fairly well through 40 minutes. What a waste of a Saturday night.

First period

Highlight: Garnet Hathaway did it! In his 37th game, and his team’s 43rd, Hathaway has his first point, a deflection goal to tie the game 1-1 after Nikita Kucherov had been left alone in front and capitalized on a Denver Barkey turnover minutes before to open the scoring. Hathaway deflected a point shot from Noah Juulsen, who has one of the better slappers on the team. Decent velocity, just a few inches off the ice, perfect for finding a stick through traffic. At this point I’m willing to try Juulsen on the power play. What could they do, get worse?

Unfortunately, the tie didn’t last long, as Kucherov notched his second of the night to make it 2-1 Lightning under two minutes later. Hathaway fought Declan Carlile two minutes after Tampa re-took the lead, giving him two-thirds of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick less than 10 minutes into the game. Sure, it’s wildly unlikely Hathaway notches a second point toinght after going half the season with zero, but it’s something worth rooting for. Why not?

What I want to see next period: Respect the Lightning less. From around the 13-minute mark until about three minutes left in the period, the Flyers held the Bolts without a shot on goal. That’s great. Don’t back up so much and concede the zone, and Sam Ersson needs to make a save now and then. Really. I don’t know what happened on Kucherov’s second goal, but there’s no reason to lwt that in. He allowed two on rthe first three shots he faced. Sure, they were both off the stick of a superstar, but come on. And if the Lightning shoot that later after a whistle as they did at the end of the period, someone needs to bury them for it. Turnovers also killed them in the beginning of the period. Be a little smarter with the puck, too.

Second period

Highlight: Other than a scrum that was started when Hathaway brushed by Jake Guentzel and somehow sent Guentzel to the ice like he’d been shot, only to magically pop right up to deliberately and obviously spear Hathaway in the leg while the officials watched but didn’t react, there wasn’t much. Not that it was a bad period, even though the Bolts extended their lead via a Nick Paul goal. It was just a tightly-contested period. Very physical. If nothing else, this is setting up for a fun rematch on Monday.

What I want to see next period: Matvei Michkov. I really liked his first period, but didn’t notice him as much in the second. Rick Tocchet is mixing the lines up a lot, but #39 needs to step up in Travis Konecny’s absence. And he’s getting the opportunities. Michkov (12:36) is second among Flyers forwards in ice time through 40 minutes. The rest of the team, I want to see them match Tampa’s physicality. It’s not like the Lightning are bullying the Flyers, but they’re definitely testing them. Trying to get a point or two out of this game is the priority, but I wouldn’t mind letting them know the intimidation isn’t going to work, either.

Third period

Highlight: LOL. None. The Lightning poured it on. Oh wait, Owen Tippett scored a power play goal to make it 5-2, his second PPG of the season, and second in his last 135 games.

Final note: Sam Ersson is not an NHL goaltender. Sixty goalies have played in at least 50 games since 2023-24. Ersson is dead last in save-percentage. He was dead last coming into this game, and he did nothing to improve that standing tonight. He needs to be replaced. The Flyers weren’t great in front of him, but come on.

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