Flyers takeaways: Ivan Fedotov stakes claim to be No. 2; Jamie Drysdale-Nick Seeler pairing dominates

COLUMBUS, Ohio ― The Flyers may not have skated away with two points, but they continued their positive momentum Tuesday by grabbing a point against one of the best home teams in the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets entered the night averaging 4.18 goals at Nationwide Arena, the highest home mark in the NHL. The Flyers held them to just two. Columbus is now 15-5-3 at home.

The Flyers have been playing better lately, and, with that, several questions have been raised in the last week, notably about their three goaltenders. Here are three answers following the Flyers’ 3-2 shootout loss and third straight game earning at least a point.

» READ MORE: Flyers extend point streak in 3-2 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets

This is an easy one. Ivan Fedotov is, and should be, the No. 2 guy. Is Aleksei Kolosov more athletic? Yes. Is Fedotov the smoothest goalie you’ll ever see? No. But Fedotov continues to make saves and should finally be the guy who consistently backs up Sam Ersson.

On Tuesday night, he allowed two goals on 28 shots and made some monster saves. The two goals he allowed were by Norris Trophy contender Zach Werenski, who scored on a first-period breakaway and a late-developing two-on-one with under five minutes left. Fedotov then robbed the defenseman of his second career hat trick in overtime.

“Big saves,” coach John Tortorella said. “Again, he’s gone through a lot. Being in and out, shuffled to three. Now, he’s come back in. He made some big saves today.”

The goalie has helped the Flyers salvage a point in two of his past three starts — including an overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs — after he was benched following a start against the Florida Panthers on Dec. 5. Why Tortorella decided one bad start, in which he allowed two goals on seven shots, meant he wouldn’t get another chance hasn’t been explained. What’s even weirder is that it came after he went 4-1-1 in the previous six.

» READ MORE: Q&A: John Tortorella talks coaching Matvei Michkov, balancing winning and development, and more

Asked if he’s feeling more confident in Fedotov, Tortorella responded: “I put him in the net.” Not exactly a resounding vote of confidence.

Fedotov did make some of his biggest saves in the third period with the score tied, 1-1. He dived to his right and gloved down a Damon Severson attempt. Was it pretty? Again, no. But he got the job done.

“I think he’s been playing really good lately,” forward Bobby Brink said. “I think he’s a really good goalie, and it’s showing, and all the boys are happy for him.”

Added forward Owen Tippett: “Every time he’s come in, he’s given us a chance. Obviously, we know the rotation going on, and it can be tough, but he made some huge saves for us tonight and kept us in the game.”

Regardless of who is on the right wing, there is no question his left winger should be Tippett.

Once again the duo connected for a goal. Frost picked off a pass by Werenski intended for Zach Aston-Reese in the neutral zone and set up Tippett to score from high in the offensive zone.

According to Natural Stat Trick, when they are together at five-on-five this season, the Flyers have scored 18 goals and allowed 10.

» READ MORE: Red-hot Morgan Frost is reaping the rewards of a greater emphasis on getting to the net

When Frost is playing without Tippett, the Flyers have scored four goals and have allowed a whopping 17. If it’s Tippett without Frost, they’ve scored seven goals but allowed 19.

They’ve scored more high-danger goals skating together (10) than they’ve allowed (seven). And when they’re out there solo, it’s a combined three high-danger goals for and 14 against. They’re also more dangerous as a pairing (58.82% high-danger goals for percentage) compared to the rest of the team (50.82%).

“When he’s confident in himself and he’s making plays, he’s a different animal,” Tippett said. “I’ve grown up watching and playing with Frosty since we were young, and I think that feeds into how well we play together. I think we communicate well, and when things maybe aren’t going our way, we talk through it. We don’t get frustrated with each other or anything like that. So, yeah, I think the more he continues to kind of build his game, it’s only going to be better for us.”

Tortorella may not have been impressed with the analytics of the Jamie Drysdale-Nick Seeler pairing, which isn’t a surprise for a coach who prefers the eye test and bases his decisions on feel. But there’s no denying where the duo stands.

A pairing that was almost thrown together because Cam York and Travis Sanheim are the top pair and Egor Zamula and Rasmus Ristolainen work well together, Seeler and Drysdale have found consistency. Tuesday was another testament to it.

At five-on-five, Natural Stat Trick had them as No. 1 and 2 in Corsi for percentage against the Blue Jackets. Drysdale was on the ice for 27 shot attempts by the Flyers to just eight against. Seeler was out there for 24 by his team and eight against. Eight.

And how many were high-danger chances? The Flyers put seven high-danger chances on Daniil Tarasov and held Columbus to zero with Drysdale and Seeler on the ice. Yes, zero.

Drysdale was out there for the tying goal, but with York. The former allowed Kirill Marchenko to get past him as he tried to step up at the blue line while the Blue Jackets were transitioning off a strip in the neutral zone.

But he also was a key contributor to getting the Flyers on the board. Drysdale had the proper puck support on the right board before sending a beautiful chip pass in the air across the blue line to Seeler. The rugged blueliner, who has some underrated hands, skated down with his head up and fed Brink for his first goal since Black Friday.