Editor’s note: we published this story before the Carter Hart leave of absence news broke

 

Let’s make a declaration before we really talk about the issue here:

This is not a Flyers goalie controversy.

OK… now that we got that caveat out of the way, and there’s no chance of misinterpreting what I’m about to say (Ha!), the Flyers starting Sam Ersson against Tampa is a telling roster decision by coach John Tortorella.

He won’t elaborate about what goes into that decision. He simply said that he and the coaches felt it was best to go back to Ersson. He also confirmed that Carter Hart was healthy.

What’s happening? Why is Ersson getting his third start in four games?

Because he’s playing better right now, that’s why.

Both goalies have been very good for the Flyers this season. Arguably, their goaltending combo could have shared the first-half team MVP award, if such an award existed.

But in recent games, Ersson has been more reliable and more consistent than Hart.

Since the Holiday break, each goalie has made seven starts. In those games, the stats tell the whole story:

  • Ersson – 4-2-1, 1.91 GAA, .928 Save%
  • Hart – 3-3-1, 3.40 GAA, .886 Save%

They’ve basically played an even amount of time over the Flyers’ last 14 games and Hart has allowed 10 more goals than Ersson. So it’s easy to see why the Flyers are leaning a little bit on Ersson at the moment.


But does this mean anything else beyond that? The answer there is… maybe.

Do I believe this is a way for Tortorella to send a message to Hart that as good as he’s been, he’s slipped a little? Sure. Is it one of those things where he does it and then will see how Hart responds in his next start? Probably. Is it an indicator that this is the direction he is going to go as the season moves forward and the games get more and more important as the Flyers make a push to make the playoffs?

…

…

…

Yeah, there were crickets chirping in those ellipses.

Is it too early to lean on one goalie and say, this is our ride-or-die guy? Yes. Way too early in fact. Especially in the modern NHL where No. 1 goalies play 50-55 games, unlike years past when they would play 65-70 games.

But it isn’t too early to test your guys and see how they respond. It isn’t too soon to see if Ersson can handle a bigger workload, or if Hart responds to the challenge of his spot as the top banana being on the line.

Torts has done a great job of pushing all the right buttons so far this season. He benched Morgan Frost, and Frost responded with nine points in his last eight games. He benched Cam Atkinson, and the veteran has answered with his best play of the season, picking up eight points in his last five games as well.

Accountability is his calling card, and he’s handed a couple out to his goalies.

Ersson has responded well so far, Hart will get his chance again, and it will be interesting to see if he does the same as his counterpart.

One thing that is certainly worth noting, however, is that Tortorella has taken his team to the playoffs 12 times in his career. He has coached 120 playoff games.

One rostered goalie started 116 of those games. The other rostered goalie started four.

And with the exception of Elvis Merzlikins getting a start in the bubble for Columbus in 2020 in place of Joonas Korpisalo because of the funkiness of the schedule, Torts hasn’t turned to his second goalie for a playoff start since Sean Burke replaced John Grahame for Tampa for two games in 2005-06.

In other words, Torts likes to have a guy who he believes in between the pipes with the season on the line.

Might he change his ways in the new NHL, where 52 goalies have already made at least 15 starts this season? After all, Torts had some great quotes Tuesday talking about how he used to hate dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen for games but has changed his tune on that this season.

Maybe Torts will do things differently this year and play both goalies regularly down the stretch and into the postseason if they get there.

But when all the chips are in the center of the table, Torts strikes me more as a leopard than a chameleon and I don’t see those spots changing anytime soon.