Ersson makes 32 saves, Flyers recover against Flames

CALGARY -- Samuel Ersson made 32 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers, who recovered for a 4-3 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday.

Ersson, who was selected in the fifth round (No. 143) of the 2018 NHL Draft, is the 11th goaltender in NHL history to win each of his first six decisions.
"I mean, really it's fun, it's special, but I'm just trying to make my spot here on the team," Ersson said. "Every game is huge for me here. I really have to focus on taking it game by game here."
Wade Allison scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and Travis Konecny and Tony DeAngelo each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (23-25-10), who had lost four straight.
"It's a dirty win for us," Flyers defenseman Cam York said. "That's what we've needed the past few games. Obviously, didn't go our way or exactly how we drew it up, but we found a way tonight. It felt like a Flyers win."

Konecny left the game with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Calgary defenseman MacKenzie Weegar at 6:22 of the second period. Philadelphia coach John Tortorella did not have an update postgame.
Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane each had a goal and an assist, and Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves for the Flames (26-20-11), who have lost five of seven (2-3-2) and haven't won consecutive games since Jan. 21-23.
"I feel it's easy to kind of get hot, right, and we haven't really gotten hot this year," Mangiapane said. "We've had a couple streaks or whatnot, but not really long ones. I think we're due and we're playing the right way, and we've just got to play a full 60 and be able to close out games and play with the lead and win these kind of close ones."
Tyler Toffoli cut it to 3-2 at 4:38 of the third period, taking a pass from Dillon Dube and scoring five-hole on Ersson from the bottom of the left circle.
Mangiapane then tied it 3-3 at 8:54 on a rebound, but Allison put Philadelphia back in front 4-3 at 11:33 when he redirected a pass from James van Riemsdyk at the edge of the crease.
"Two shifts later Allison scores that big goal for us," said Flyers forward Scott Laughton, who had two assists. "We were bending a little bit, but we didn't break. I think any time when you're up in the third, the tendency is to sit back a little bit, or the other team pushes a little bit more. We found a way."

Blake Coleman nearly tied it again for the Flames at 16:13, but he hit the post with his backhand on a breakaway.
"We came out and came back," Backlund said. "We had that jump. Just really tough when you come back and you still find a way to lose. It's frustrating, tough."
Konecny gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 16:59 of the first period, cutting back on Noah Hanifin and scoring short side from the left hash marks.
The goal came after Ersson made a stick save on redirection by Jakob Pelletier at 9:29, and a sliding pad save on Jonathan Huberdeau on a 2-on-0 at 16:17.
"He was good," Tortorella said. "The early saves were very important. He made big saves throughout the game, but the early saves to allow us to get a lead was very important.
"Listen, he's come in every time we've asked him to do something and played very well. It's very encouraging, not just for the short-term here but long-term also."
Nicolas Deslauriers made it 2-0 at 7:30 of the second period when he chipped a cross-ice pass from York over Markstrom's glove. The goal came eight seconds after York exited the penalty box following a tripping minor.

Backlund cut the lead to 2-1 at 8:55 with a wrist shot short side through a screen, but DeAngelo responded to make it 3-1 at 11:31 from the high slot.
"It was a close game," Mangiapane said. "You can't take any team lightly in this league no matter where they are in the standings or whatnot. I thought we did some things well and we have to build off that.
"But I feel we've got to play a full 60. We've been kind of saying that a lot, but it's true. We let up a shift or let up a period and teams are capitalizing on us right now."
NOTES: Backlund has five points (two goals, three assists) during a three-game point streak, and 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in his past 11 games. ... Philadelphia is 16-0-1 when leading after two periods. Calgary is 0-13-2 when trailing after two periods.