Ersson blanks Red Wings, Flyers push point streak to 8 games originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Samuel Ersson needed little run support in leading the Flyers to a 1-0 win Saturday night over the Red Wings at the Wells Fargo Center.
The shutout was his second of the season and third of his career.
Cam York scored for the Flyers (17-10-3), who are on an eight-game point streak (6-0-2).
John Tortorella’s club is 7-1-2 in its last 10 games and 12-3-2 since its Nov. 7 loss to the previously-winless Sharks.
“Now we’ve added some transition, we’re trying to play more of a riskier type of game, but you still have to have some grind,” the head coach said of his team’s defensive performance Saturday night. “As you go through it, we’re going to have to find ways to win, so it’s really good that we’re doing it early here.”
The rebuilding Flyers have surprised many in 30 games. They’re in second place of a tight Metropolitan Division.
In 2019-20, the last time they made the playoffs, the Flyers were 17-8-5 through 30 games.
“We haven’t had many of these moments throughout the last couple of years, haven’t had that real good feeling around the room or around the Wells Fargo,” Scott Laughton said Friday after practice. “You can feel the energy in the building every night, the way we’re going and just everything around.”
The Flyers didn’t have No. 1 defenseman Travis Sanheim, who missed the game because of an illness.
They face the Red Wings (15-11-4) two more times this season, with both matchups in Detroit.
• Ersson made his third straight start and finished with 33 saves.
The 24-year-old Swedish native won two of those three outings. The loss came in overtime on the road Tuesday against the Predators.
He was really strong late in the game Saturday night.
“It was a special game for me, it was the first time my family got to see me play in the NHL,” Ersson said. “It was definitely huge to be able to get the shutout.”
Ersson is 7-1-1 with a 1.84 goals-against average and .930 save percentage over his last nine starts. His resurgence has been impressive after a shaky start to the season.
“Remember how he started, it was tough sledding for him for a bit there and he readily admitted it,” Tortorella said. “That’s what I like about Sam. I remember listening to him when he had some struggles, he knew that he needed to be better, he knew he was better.”
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