Flyers takeaways: Sam Ersson rebounds, and bagels for Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard

CHICAGO — John Tortorella will tell you the game wasn’t pretty.

He’ll also tell you that’s OK. He’ll tell you that because facing the worst team in the NHL, the Flyers still earned a win and with it two more points in the standings. As the bench boss said, “It’s not [about] style points now,” it’s more about “just grind away to get points.”

And they did that with a 3-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks — a team they should beat given that the Flyers are in the postseason mix and Chicago is in last place.

Here are three takeaways from the Flyers’ fifth victory in seven games since the All-Star break.

Saturday night following the Flyers’ loss to the New Jersey Devils in the Stadium Series, Sam Ersson said he’s “got to put the puck somewhere better” when it comes to rebound control. On Wednesday night, the cool, calm, and collected Swede did just that.

» READ MORE: Ahead of their first look at Connor Bedard, Flyers hope they’ve found their own phenom in Matvei Michkov

Ersson faced 22 shots and allowed just one goal — the tip-your-cap type on a beauty of a curl-and-drag by Colin Blackwell around a sprawled-out Jamie Drysdale. He consistently steered shots to the boards or corners and away from the front of his net. As Tortorella noted, “He looked more confident tonight than he did in the outdoor game.”

“It’s somewhat hard to compare when it’s not the same situations, but I obviously think I dealt with the situations I got to deal with today in a better way [than Saturday],” Ersson said. " So that’s something I take with me and just keep working at.”

The rookie netminder saw only three rebound chances from the Blackhawks across 60 minutes, with Tyler Johnson getting a good chance on the doorstep during a power play. But he had his biggest save early on before either team got on the board.

In the first period especially, the Flyers gave up several odd-man rushes; Tortorella said his group was “just way too risky.” One of those odd-man rushes started out as a three-on-one before turning into a two-on-one down low as Garnet Hathaway got back (with a little push from Noah Cates). Johnson fed a saucer pass over the stick of Cam York to Taylor Raddysh crashing down the right side only to be robbed by a spectacular glove save.

“I guess he got the pass across and he was a righty so he had to kind of pull it in. For me, it gave me a little bit more time to get over there,” Ersson said.

“It’s just a huge save, especially at the beginning of the game,” Tortorella said. “Getting the lead is such an important thing in this league. Huge save by him.”

Ersson has been stellar in his first full NHL season. The 24-year-old is 16-10-4 with a .900 save percentage and three shutouts. Before this season, he had just 10 NHL starts but has taken on the workload with ease. His composure, calm demeanor, and ability to put losses behind him have impressed his bench boss.

Standing on the bench, Tortorella turned to assistant coach Rocky Thompson and said, “It’s about time he got rewarded.” The “he” was Hathaway. The forward gave the Flyers an insurance goal in the second period, knocking in the rebound of a quick shot from Cates after he received a pass from the half-wall by Ryan Poehling.

» READ MORE: Nick Seeler almost quit hockey for good in 2021. Now, he’s one of the NHL’s most underrated defensemen.

Since Tyson Foerster went down with a lower-body injury, Hathaway has been elevated to the third line. In the four games, he has two goals; he has six on the season. The rugged, hard-nosed Hathaway, who now ranks second in the league with 202 hits, has found instant chemistry with Cates and Poehling. It’s one line Tortorella found he could trust on Wednesday.

“Chemistry is the one, right? You don’t always know how you get it or where you get it from,” said Hathaway about his new line. “But, I think it’s the attributes those two bring. I think Catesy’s unbelievable at puck battles, holding on to pucks, making plays and knowing when he can pass it in a scrum, and knowing when he has to hold it a little longer. And Poehls’ speed, I think that creates a lot of open ice.

“That shift for the goal, it was him racing down the wall, getting the puck in. Catesy knowing when to step in to get the puck and then Catesy making another play down low. So it’s those two working really well together and we’re getting pucks to the net which is, you know, it’s tough to say that but it works.”

Across his 15 minutes, 2 seconds of ice time, which included 49 seconds on the penalty kill, Hathaway had three shots on goal, one missed shot, eight hits, and one blocked shot that seemed to sting him a bit. But of course, he stayed in the game.

Connor Bedard is the real deal.

But for the first time since he returned from a broken jaw, the 2023 No. 1 draft pick was held off the score sheet. The 18-year-old phenom entered the game with six points in his last three games but was given goose eggs for the 14th time in his 43 games this season.

“He’ll be tough to keep him off for a long, long time. And, you know, [Nick] Foligno too; those two are playing well together,” Hathaway said. “It’s every time the puck squeaks out of your zone, they have speed and they’re coming at you. You can see the high-end skill that creates, lanes to the net, creates rebounds. You got to know where the guy is behind you because the vision that he has is to make plays and he was really close tonight and we’re just lucky that he didn’t.”

» READ MORE: Owen Tippett’s Stadium Series goals provide a blueprint for him in terms of efficiency

Bedard didn’t go quietly into the night. The rookie showcased a high level of talent and an ability to skate around and through the defense. He posted 11 shot attempts, including three shots on goal and six more that were blocked. And he did that all in 24:49 of ice time — a mind-blowing number for a forward in a game that did not go to overtime.

“He’s a special player. He’s going to be a great player in this league for a long time,” said Travis Konecny, who notched his 27th goal.

Flyers fans will have a chance to see Bedard in person when Chicago visits on March 30.