Kolosov makes NHL debut, doesn’t get much help as Flyers fall to 2-6-1 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Aleksei Kolosov couldn’t save the Flyers from their up-and-down play.
John Tortorella’s club wasn’t sharp or connected at all and had to play far too much defense in a 4-3 loss Sunday night to the Canadiens at the Wells Fargo Center.
Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny provided the Flyers’ goals.
Sanheim’s first marker sent the game into first intermission tied at 1-1. Then, with the Flyers down 4-1 with under two and a half minutes remaining in the game, Sanheim and Konecny struck to make it interesting.
The Flyers (2-6-1) have yet to win consecutive games this season. They missed out on an opportunity to sweep their back-to-back set in Philadelphia this weekend. They snapped a six-game skid Saturday afternoon with a 7-5 win over the Wild.
But they couldn’t build on it.
The Flyers have given up four or more goals in seven of their nine games and are surrendering 4.45 per game.
Montreal also played Saturday, picking up a 5-2 home win over the Blues to end a four-game losing streak.
The Flyers don’t see the Canadiens (4-4-1) again for a while. They have two more matchups, one at the Wells Fargo Center on March 27 and the other in Montreal on April 5.
• After a rocky offseason between Kolosov and the Flyers, the 22-year-old goaltending prospect made his NHL debut only nine games into the season. The Belarusian converted 20 saves on 24 shots.
The Canadiens never trailed in the game and outscored the Flyers 3-0 in the second period.
Kolosov had little to no chance to stop Montreal’s first two goals. The one probably could have prevented was the third, which came on a Cole Caufield power play blast. Kolosov had a sight line on the shot and let it squeeze between him and the post.
On the Canadiens’ fourth goal (and third of the second period), Kolosov lost track of a pass that went to a wide-open Jake Evans below the circle.
Related to a saga stemming back to May, Kolosov wasn’t in rookie camp and missed a week-plus of main camp. But after he joined the Flyers, played a few preseason games and returned to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley, the situation has apparently been better.
“As far as attitude and where Kolosov’s mind is right now, we have gotten good reports as far as how he has gone about his business down there,” Tortorella said before the game.
Samuel Ersson was Kolosov’s backup. Ivan Fedotov, the team’s third goalie on the roster right now, was not nearly reliable enough in his his three starts, which made the Flyers summon Kolosov.
Montreal netminder Cayden Primeau, the son of former Flyers captain Keith Primeau, stopped 23 shots.
• After combining for 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in the Flyers’ win over Minnesota, Konecny, Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov combined for one point.
The Flyers just didn’t generate much and were one and done way too many times.
Defensively, Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale are still working to be a more consistent second pair.
• Along with Kolosov, Emil Andrae was called up Saturday night from the Phantoms and drew into the lineup. He played in place of Egor Zamula, who has fought it through eight games. The 24-year-old owns a minus-10 rating and hasn’t shown a quickness in his decision-making.
“Just the speed,” Tortorella said before the game. “Not just physical speed, but mental as far as reading plays, getting the puck up the ice quicker.”
The Flyers’ coaching staff has used Zamula as an interpreter for communicating with Michkov. Tortorella believes it has compounded things for the Russian defenseman.
“We have stopped using him as an interpreter, I think we went a little bit too far there,” the head coach said. “It’s time that we talk to Mich. It’s just too much and I think that has affected him a little bit. I just want to put him out, let him watch a game and try to regroup and then we’ll see what happens after this game.”
• The Flyers are back in action Tuesday when they visit the Bruins (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
