PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Flyers had to figure Aleksei Kolosov might not be ready for NHL action. The 22-year-old goalie brought a total of six AHL games’ worth of North American experience into his NHL debut on Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens at Wells Fargo Center, including two games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last season and four this season, and hadn’t yet done anything at that level to suggest he deserved a promotion.
But the Flyers are feeling pressure on two fronts. There’s the chance Kolosov opts to return to the KHL rather than spend the bulk of the season in Lehigh Valley, and they know they can’t count on Ivan Fedotov after three unsightly games from the 6-foot-7 Russian, who currently sports an .821 save percentage. Fedotov and No. 1 Samuel Ersson combined to give the Flyers the league’s worst save percentage (.833) and goals-against average (4.15) headed into Sunday.
Further, from an advanced analytics perspective, the Flyers’ 10.77 goals-against above expected headed into Sunday, according to Moneypuck, was by far the worst in the league, four goals worse than 31st-ranked Nashville.
So, there was Kolosov. And while the Flyers lost 4-3, making a late push on goals by Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny but ultimately falling short, they probably saw enough positives that he’s going to get another chance some point soon.
“It’s a hard game to assess. There wasn’t a lot going on,” said former Flyers goalie Martin Biron, who was in the TSN studio for the broadcast in Canada and kept a close eye on Kolosov. “I think he’s pretty quick. I think he moves well. … I thought he showed good promise. But it’s the NHL, and it’s a fine line between (being a) prospect that shows good promise and somebody that’s going to make it.”
That, naturally, will take some time to play out. Kolosov is still a bit undersized for an NHL goalie, listed at 6-1 and 187 pounds, and as a third-round pick in 2021, he’s certainly not viewed as a sure thing.
But considering what’s gone on in net for the Flyers this season, the opportunity is there for more if he can seize it.
Officially, Kolosov finished the night with four goals allowed on 24 shots. Three of the goals, though, arguably weren’t his fault — the Flyers were outnumbered in front of their net on the first when Nick Suzuki potted a loose puck at 10:42 of the first period, and at 4:48 of the second, a redirection off of Brendan Gallagher’s leg gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead.
The third, though, was a stoppable shot. Cole Caufield snuck a wrist shot past Kolosov’s short side at 12:48 of the second late on a Canadiens power play, upping their lead to 3-1.
“The Caufield goal was not great,” Biron said. “That’s one, like, make a save and it’s a different story.”
And the same time …
“Caufield has eight goals this year,” Biron continued. “He knows where to put the puck, he knows how to find the tiny little squeakers. That’s really what he does.”
The fourth goal, giving the Canadiens a three-goal cushion with four minutes to go in the second period, was an odd one. Gallagher broke his stick on a shot from the point, resulting in a slow-moving puck sliding right to Jake Evans’ tape in the far circle. Evans whipped it past Kolosov, who didn’t get any help from his teammates, who were caught standing around as the puck fluttered through.
“That was a weird one,” Biron said. “I can’t look at it and say he should have had a better push, should have been there, should have read the situation — it was such a broken play that you’re probably double-pumping your push (from left to right), because of how slow the puck was coming across.”
From the Flyers and coach John Tortorella’s perspective, they were more concerned after the game with the team continuing to look disjointed as a five-man unit for long stretches, something that’s been plaguing them since opening night.
But as far as Kolosov …
“I thought our goalie played good,” Tortorella said. “I thought he made some really good saves.”
Said Scott Laughton: “I thought (Kolosov) was great for us tonight. I thought he stood in there and did a great job for us.”
So what’s next? The Flyers, who completed their third back-to-back in the young season, don’t have another until Nov. 29-30. When they use their backup again is anyone’s guess, although it will presumably be Ersson back in the net on Tuesday in Boston.
There is no hard deadline when it comes to Kolosov’s potential reassignment to the KHL, especially now that he’s on the NHL roster, according to a team source. The Flyers still view Ersson as their No. 1, but the crease is wide open otherwise.
It’s worth keeping in mind, too, that players in the Belarus-native Kolosov’s situation are sometimes pressured to return to the KHL rather than play in the AHL. As one of the highest-ranking officials in Russian hockey, Roman Rotenberg told The Athletic’s Corey Pronman in this piece about Matvei Michkov in 2021: “We have this philosophy that if they go and they’re not sure if they will play in the NHL or in a lower league, it’s not a good decision for them.” The Flyers understand that dynamic.
The Flyers have a handful of problems right now. They can’t find consistent line combinations, five-on-five scoring has been inconsistent and key defenseman Cam York is out for at least a few more games. The result is a 2-6-1 record and last place in the Metropolitan Division.
But even if they remedy all of those things, it won’t matter unless they get more saves than they’ve gotten to this point. Perhaps Kolosov will be the one who provides more of them if he can quickly take steps in his development.
“Has Fedotov been good? No,” Biron said. “Ersson, he should be better than what he’s shown. If I’m (Tortorella) and (general manager Daniel Brière), I’m saying, I want to see a little bit more.
“He showed good. It wasn’t great. But it was good.”
(Top photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
