Ersson Blanks Red Wings, Flyers’ Points Streak Hits 8

As the calendar turned from 2022 to 2023, Sam Ersson was just being introduced to the NHL. His first game was certainly a whirlwind, a 6-5 loss in Carolina that saw him pulled, then replacing an injured Carter Hart. Ersson's next six starts were all wins.

Ersson is on a similar run with the Flyers now. After taking the loss in his first three appearances of the season, Ersson has won seven of his last nine starts. His most recent victory came on Saturday night as Wells Fargo Center, stopping all 33 shots he faced in a 1-0 shutout win over the Detroit Red Wings, extending the Flyers points streak to eight games.

The Flyers came out with good jump early and turned that into the game's first goal at 6:21. Off a face-off, Cam York executed a give-and-go with Travis Konecny. York centered a pass to the crease that hit the stick of J.T. Compher and went into the net, giving York his fifth goal of the season. The assist for Konecny was the 200th of his career.

The Flyers also had a power-play opportunity in the first, but couldn't take advantage. Through 20 minutes, shots were 12-7 Flyers.

In the second period, the Flyers continued to have success on the penalty kill, taking care of two Detroit power plays. Another power play for the Flyers also went by the wayside.

Midway through the period, Alex Lyon suffered an injury and was forced to exit the game. He made 14 saves on 15 shots. Ville Husso came on in relief.

The two teams skated to a scoreless second period with the Flyers holding a 22-19 lead in shots.

The strong defensive effort continued into the third period. The Flyers killed off another penalty midway through the period, then had to weather the storm in the closing minutes, with Ersson making several quality saves and the rest of the team blocking shots.

Ersson finished with 33 saves in the shutout win. In relief, Husso stopped all 18 shots he faced.

York finished with two blocked shots and one hit in addition to the goal in 23:13 of ice time. Rasmus Ristolainen, filling in on the top pairing for the sick Travis Sanheim, finished with three hits and two blocked shots in 23:07 of ice time.

The Flyers return to the ice on Tuesday night to face off against the New Jersey Devils on the road at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Cam York (5) (Travis Konecny, Tyson Foerster) 6:21

2nd Period

• No Scoring

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Game Statistics

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.