Ersson, Foerster help Flyers deliver gutsy (and needed) shutout in Boston originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Samuel Ersson was ultra reliable in net and Tyson Foerster showed his shot to give the Flyers a 2-0 win Tuesday night over the Bruins at TD Garden.
It was no offensive masterpiece from the Flyers. But John Tortorella’s team defended hard and well to grind out a much-needed victory in a building that has given it trouble.
Ersson pitched his sixth career shutout. Foerster handed the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the second period and Joel Farabee iced the game with an empty-netter.
The Flyers are 3-6-1 through 10 games. After losing six straight, they’ve won two of their last three.
They had allowed four or more goals in seven of their first nine games, so a defensive performance like this was timely.
The Flyers were 0-4-0 and had been outscored 19-8 in their previous four trips to TD Garden. The last time they won in Boston was April 5, 2021. The Flyers played five defensemen in a 3-2 overtime decision: Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov, Philippe Myers, Shayne Gostisbehere and Justin Braun. Sanheim, the only one still in Philadelphia, scored the winner.
Tuesday night also marked the Flyers’ first regulation win at TD Garden since the 2011-12 season opener.
The Flyers see the Bruins (4-5-1) again Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
• Ersson turned away all 23 shots he faced.
The 25-year-old made a couple of huge saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless. The Flyers killed off 1:37 minutes of a 5-on-3 Boston power play in the opening stanza. They clamped down in the third period, giving up only three shots.
Ersson’s lone blemish of the night was a miscommunication with Emil Andrae on a third-period power play that nearly led to a game-tying shorthanded goal for the Bruins.
Boston backup Joonas Korpisalo stopped 17 of the Flyers’ 18 shots.
• Tortorella, a couple of times, has mentioned Foerster as a young player that needs to be better. The 22-year-old winger answered the call against the Bruins.
He used his biggest asset a little over five and a half minutes into the second period to give the Flyers a critical lead. Foerster laced one home from the slot off a nice feed from Andrae, who picked up his first career NHL point.
That was a big goal for Foerster, who scored 20 as a rookie last season but had just one and a healthy scratch so far this season.
• Andrae was highly effective in his second game of the season. The 22-year-old…