5 Observations: Flyers’ Furious Rally Falls Short; Ersson Has Shaky Debut; Hart Injured

Samuel Ersson, the 23-year-old Philadelphia Flyers goalie who was impressive in training camp, made his NHL debut Friday.

It was not a memorable introduction.

The Swede lasted less than half the game as he allowed five goals. He then returned to action as Carter Hart was injured with 2:08 left in the second period.

The Flyers would only call it an upper-body injury. Hart went down to the ice after he collided with Seth Jarvis.

Ersson was composed during the exhibition season but seemed jittery Friday as the Flyers rallied in the final period but fell to the powerful Carolina Hurricanes, 6-5, at PNC Arena.

The Flyers didn’t exactly give Ersson much defensive support. A bad clear by Ivan Provorov led to the first Carolina goal, and Ersson was screened on the Canes’ second score, a power-play tally. A defensive breakdown left Jesper Fast all alone in the left circle for the third Carolina goal, all in the first period.

The Flyers go into the holiday break with an 11-17-7 record. They have lost 19 of their last 23 games and are in seventh-place in the Metropolitan Division.

Carolina (22-6-6), coached by former Flyer Rod Brind’Amour, is atop the Metro. The Hurricanes have a 14-game points streak and have won eight straight.

Here are five quick observations from Friday:

1. The Flyers showed some late fight.

Philly faced a 6-2 deficit entering the third and looked done.

But goals early in the third by Nick Seeler and Scott Laughton (shorthanded) got the Philadelphia Flyers within 6-4 with 12:19 remaining. With 7:36 left, Travis Konecny scored another shorthanded goal, cutting the deficit to 6-5.

The Flyers swarmed the net late in the game, but couldn’t get the equalizer in the hectic final minutes.

“It could have come apart at the seams in the third period, down 6-2,” coach John Tortorella said. “So I appreciate the guys staying in there and playing. They played hard; they’ve been doing it all year.”

Back-to-back shorty's and the late rally is on in Raleigh. #PHIvsCAR | #FueledByPhilly pic.twitter.com/Pm6ftZfwAQ

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 24, 2022

2. Samuel Ersson had a tough night.

Ersson allowed five goals on 22 shots and was replaced by Carter Hart with 12:02 left in the second. He returned late in the period, and finished the night with 25 saves on 30 shots.

“I don’t make excuses,” Ersson said. “I’ve got to be better. I’m a better goalie than I showed tonight.”

The killer was Andrei Svechnikov’s goal off the rush, scored from distance. That gave Carolina a 4-2 lead with 14:03 to go in the second. Two minutes later, Jordan Martinook made it 5-2 by beating Ersson on a deflection.

To his credit, Ersson rebounded and stopped all eight shots he faced in the third period.

“He made some big saves in third and gave us a chance to come back,” defenseman Tony DeAngelo said.

With Hart injured in the preseason, Ersson had a chance to shine, and he not only didn’t look out of place, but he was the Philadelphia Flyers’ best goalie during the exhibition season.

He has played well with the Phantoms (2.72 GAA, .910 save percentage) this season, but fell into a 3-1 first-period hole Friday.

Ersson played 18 games with the Phantoms after Hart recovered and was ready for the opener. He made his NHL debut Friday because Hart has gone through an exhausting stretch (11 starts in the previous 12 games) and because backup goalie Felix Sandstrom was ill.

Santa Laughts is coming to town. #PHIvsCAR | #FueledByPhilly pic.twitter.com/VHypnu0Wz9

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 24, 2022

3. Tony DeAngelo takes momentum into the break.

The 27-year-old defenseman had a goal and an assist for the second straight game. DeAngelo, who played for the Hurricanes last season, finished off a four-on-two rush and scored from the slot to get the Flyers within 3-2 with 18:59 left in the second.

“It was a good push, just once again one-goal short,” DeAngelo said, mindful the Flyers scored two late goals but lost Thursday in Toronto, 4-3.

Paired with Travis Sanheim, DeAngelo has looked noticeably more confident in his last three games.

4. Morgan Frost, Travis Sanheim continue to impress.

Frost, 23-year-old center, set up Sanheim’s goal — the defenseman split two defenders and beat Antti Raanta with a shot high to the glove side — to knot the score at 1-1 with in the first.

In his last seven games, Frost has eight points (four goals, four assists). On the negative side, his tripping penalty led to Stefan Noesen’s power-play goal — a blast from the high slot that beat a screened Ersson and put the Hurricanes ahead, 2-1, with 5:28 to go in the first.

As for Sanheim, he had a slow start, but has played well in the last five weeks. He has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) over his last 18 games and has been much more active joining the rush.

5. Flyers cured Jesper Fast’s scoring slump.

The 31-year-old right winger entered the night goal-less in his last 17 games, but scored two goals in the first 19:05.

Breakaways

Rasmus Ristolainen had the primary assist on Seeler’s goal; it was Risto’s first point in 28 games this season. … Ersson became the 63rd goalie to play for the Flyers since the franchise started in 1967-68. … Both teams were playing on the second night of back-to-back games. … Seeler returned to the Flyers’ lineup after a two-game absence. Justin Braun was scratched. … Carolina is now 16-1-3 when scoring first. … The Flyers start a three-game West Coast trip Thursday in San Jose.