The Flyers have a good problem with both Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov finding their game in goal

ST. LOUIS ― Philly, we have a problem.

And it’s a good one to have.

Meet the Flyers. The NHL team has notoriously struggled to find good, consistent goaltending since what feels like the days when Ron Hextall was with them — as a player, not as a general manager.

Now they have a plethora of NHL-caliber netminders, which considering their history, is the equivalent of a new shiny toy. Right now, there’s just a dynamic duo. But once Sam Ersson returns from injury, how will general manager Danny Brière ensure he doesn’t break this new toy that is incredibly fragile?

There’s no denying Ersson is the Flyers’ No. 1 goalie. He started the season strong, going 5-2-2 with a 2.70 goals-against average, a .902 save percentage, and a 25-save shutout of the Boston Bruins. It is impressive that the cool, calm Swedish netminder accomplished good numbers with a Flyers team struggling to regain the identity that made it successful last season.

But Ersson has missed the last nine games with a lower-body injury, after missing a pair earlier in the season. He was placed on injured reserve Nov. 18, and while he has yet to practice with the team, he was in St. Louis on Saturday and the 3-2 overtime win, which is a good sign.

Up until a few games ago, WWDD (What will Danny do?) wasn’t even relevant. Both rookie goalies were struggling to find their footing. But things have shifted lately and Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov have both shut down the competition.

“They’ve played good. … Those two guys — we’re alternating them through — have done the job and kept us in games when we struggled,” coach John Tortorella said after Fedotov impressed Friday in a 3-1 win against the New York Rangers. “We have important saves at an important time. Those are the saves that are really key for us.”

The important saves were few and far between for Fedotov and Kolosov when they first got into the NHL net.

Fedotov, who broke camp with the team as Ersson’s backup, went 0-3 with a 5.35 GAA and an .821 save percentage to start the season. To compound it, he looked awkward and stiff in goal.

Yes, the team in front of him was giving up odd-man rushes and shots that not even Bernie Parent could stop, but he was allowing several low-danger ones to get by. According to Natural Stat Trick, his goals saved above average (GSAA) at five-on-five was in the negative (-5.59). The metric, which allows comparison across the NHL, did not rate him as the worst in the league — he was the second worst.

» READ MORE: Alexsei Kolosov plays the role of hero in the Flyers’ overtime road win against St. Louis

As Tortorella said at the time, “We have a goaltending situation.”

Things started to get interesting. Fedotov was in goal for the loss to the Washington Capitals on Oct. 23, dressed as the backup the next game, and then didn’t even sit on the bench until Ersson got injured less than a week after Kolosov was called up from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. The young Belarusian goalie, recalled Oct. 26, made his NHL debut the next day and dressed as Ersson’s backup until the Swede was injured six days later in the first period against the Bruins.

“Ivan had some games. We weren’t happy with his game,” Tortorella said on Oct. 31. “We’re going to look at Kolosov. So that’s how I feel about it. I’m not sure where it all goes as the grand plan as we keep on going here, because we also have to think about Feds, too, to get him some time. … Feds had a chance. We’re going to look at Kolosov. Kolosov will back up tonight, and if I take out Erss, Kolosov is going to get the next game.”

It’s fair to say that Tortorella was purposely not looking far down the road.

Kolosov struggled early too, going 0-4-0 with a 3.71 GAA and an .872 save percentage. Speaking through a team translator after he went in for Ersson against the Bruins — his first appearance since his debut against the Montreal Canadiens — the 22-year-old goalie noted he felt a bit better “dealing with the game style, traffic in front of the net, and all aspects of the game.”

It was not an easy adjustment for the pair, who both came from the Kontinental Hockey League, with the change in style of play and traffic in front between the two leagues. Add that the Flyers were not playing to their identity — they were playing disjointed and disconnected — and it was a recipe for disaster.

But then, like a lightning bolt strike, things took a turn at Tampa Bay for the goalies and the Flyers.

After Kolosov tweaked something at the team’s morning skate on Nov. 7, Fedotov made his first start in two weeks. Much like the phoenix rising on his mask, the Russian netminder rose to the occasion and backstopped the Flyers to a 2-1 shootout win — his first career victory in the NHL — looking more confident and loose between the pipes.

Including that win, Fedotov has gone 4-1-1 with a much improved 2.57 GAA and .909 save percentage in his last six starts. From his win in Florida to his victory over the Rangers on Black Friday, he had the 12th-best GSAA in the NHL (2.22). It took some time, but Fedotov is starting to return to his game, and looking more and more like the guy named the KHL’s best goalie in 2021-22.

“I would say I concentrated more on my game because, of course, you cannot always win or lose, but you have to keep your mindset, your level at least in medium and not up and down,” he said Friday. “That’s why I want to keep that point in my mind and just step by step, get better and 100%. … Once again as I told you before, if you play more games, you feel … better because you find the way to stop the puck [and] how everything goes.”

» READ MORE: Rasmus Ristolainen has been Mr. Consistent on the Flyers blue line

And then there is Kolosov, who did not report to training camp on time. “I think on his end, it’s more about he wants to be guaranteed a spot in the NHL. If not, he prefers to stay over there, and that’s not the way we see it,” Brière said on Sept. 17 about the Belarusian staying in the KHL.

But the GM also said the magic words: “Most teams around the league use their third goalie or fourth goalie,” he said. “He’d be in a competition with the guys that we have to play some games this year.”

Poof. Kolosov was in camp about 10 days later and, after a slow start, the young, athletic goalie has impressed with his quickness and ability to track.

In his last three starts, Kolosov has gone 3-0-0, boasting an impressive 1.98 GAA and a .920 save percentage. The first Belarusian goalie to start an NHL game, he earned his first NHL win against the Chicago Blackhawks. On Wednesday against Nashville, with the Flyers struggling to find their game, he kept them in it until the guys in front of him could get a pair, including the overtime winner.

And on Saturday night, in front of a buzzing Enterprise Center, he had his most brilliant game to date as he robbed the Blues multiple times and allowed the late goal to tie it only after making two ridiculous saves in tight on Justin Faulk. “He played outstanding,” Tortorella said with a big grin after Matvei Michkov sealed the win on a breakaway in overtime.

“He stood on his head and made huge saves all night,” forward Owen Tippett added. “Obviously, we don’t want to give him the opportunity to make those big saves, but when he’s there, it gives everyone confidence that he’s going to make that for us and he played great tonight.”

NHL seasons have ups and downs, and so do games. As Tippett noted, each of the goalies has kept the Flyers in games when they have those dips and lose their structure.

“He puts in a lot of hard work,” forward Garnet Hathaway said of Kolosov. “For all of our goalies, it’s a grind. I think even as players, we may look past how much effort it is to go in and be concentrated for the full 60 minutes, no matter what. I thought tonight, he stood on his head.”

The world could have come crashing down for the Flyers when Ersson went down after appearing to reinjure his lower-body injury. Despite losing their No. 1 goalie, the Orange and Black have put together an impressive run, with seven wins in 10 games, and are currently on a five-game point streak. They are now over .500 — two games to be exact — for the first time since they won the season opener.

Tortorella has said more than once he will keep alternating the goalies. And why not? You should always ride a hot goalie, and right now the Flyers have two. Who will start when is not something Tortorella focuses on. He just wants them to stop pucks. It will be up to goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh, who is the tie that binds the rookies’ recent success.

“He deserves credit for being a goalie coach in Philadelphia. Doesn’t matter what goalie’s here. Being a goalie coach in Philadelphia, he deserves a ton of credit,” Tortorella said with a chuckle, leaning into the history. “He’s done a terrific job, and he has to listen to [expletive] from me when things aren’t going right with that position. I know nothing about it, but I’m the first one to … moan about it when it’s not getting done.”

Now that it is getting done, what’s next? Will the Flyers carry three goalies? Will someone be sent to the Phantoms or even traded? For now, there’s nothing wrong with riding the wave and the good vibes. But whatever you do, don’t expect Ersson to stand by quietly when he returns.

“For me, my mindset stays the same,” Ersson said before the season started and he was anointed the top spot. “I know, like, whatever is said, nothing is given. You have to earn it still.”

Philly, get ready for a good old-fashioned goalie battle.