Flyers takeaways: Sam Ersson a rare bright spot in a listless offensive showing vs. the Lightning

TAMPA, Fla. — After a six-goal outburst on Saturday night against a division opponent, the Flyers put up a goose egg Monday for the first time this season.

Here are three things to know from the 3-0 shutout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning:

» READ MORE: Flyers shut out for the first time this season in 3-0 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning

Tending goal for the first time in 10 days, and after goalie Dan Vladař had started three straight, Sam Ersson got back between the pipes on Monday. If you look at the stats, you’ll see he allowed two goals on 17 shots, and produced another sub-.900 save percentage outing.

But peer beyond the box score and you’ll see a goalie who played his game.

The Swedish netminder has always been strong at tracking pucks and playing angles. Just 93 seconds into the game, and on the first shot he faced, Ersson made a save on a tricky tipped shot by Dominic James. He kicked out the left pad to rob him on a rebound shot from the slot later in the period. Ersson later tracked the puck well after Jake Guentzel threw it on net from the right wing.

In the third period, he stopped Brandon Hagel — who easily was the Lightning’s best player in the game — as he danced through the defense and fired a shot off Ersson’s shoulder. And late in the game, as the Flyers started to press, he stopped James again on a two-on-one.

Ersson likes to see a high volume of shots. This game did not have that, and, to be fair, neither have most of his games this season. Ersson has the lowest shots against per 60 minutes in the NHL (20.9) while not getting much run support. He ranks second in the league, behind Nashville’s Juuse Saros, with the fewest goals for (2.18) among goalies who have played at least seven games.

“I can’t make them manufacture shots,” Ersson said. “They get chances. I know the puck is going to come my way. I think I’ve got to do some stuff different on those goals, from my perspective, and do a better job [and] come up with some saves in those situations.”

The goals he allowed came on a tipped shot by Hagel in the first period, when it looked like there was a double screen, and another in the second by Anthony Cirelli, who was left alone in front for an easy redirect off the rush.

Coach Rick Tocchet thought Ersson played well and didn’t lay any of the blame on his shoulders. He didn’t lay any of the blame on his defensemen, either.

“It was too many odd-man rushes. That’s not on the D. The second period, we had eight odd-man rushes, that’s on the forwards. So that’s not on the D,” Tocchet said. “We have to have some guys commit to being above [the puck]. You have those types of talented players on the ice, you have to be above. You stand up when you have numbers; we didn’t have numbers because a couple of guys were diving in.”

The speedy Lightning, despite a rash of injuries, have players like Hagel, Nikita Kucherov, Guentzel, and Cirelli, who can make you pay.

“They came with speed right from the gate and definitely pushed us back a little bit, for sure,” said defenseman Jamie Drysdale, who was on the ice for all three Lightning goals and was out there with defensive partner Emil Andrae for the first two. “A few odd-man rushes here and there, and, yeah, they played faster than us, and they were the better team tonight.”

Tocchet mentioned two terms: “stay above” and “diving in.” In layman’s terms, his forwards were not playing smart defensively and were attacking at the wrong moments.

On the first goal, the forwards just got stuck not skating. Hagel easily went around Bobby Brink in the neutral zone as he tried to attack after being at a complete stop. Cirelli’s goal came after the three forwards got trapped deep in the offensive zone, with Sean Couturier “diving in” on Hagel, who made a cross-ice pass to Kucherov at center ice before getting it back as he drove down the right side.

“I’ll take the blame for this one; our line wasn’t good without the puck,” Couturier said. “They had some odd-man rushes on us. But other than that, I thought the other lines were going.

“It was a tight check game, not much going on both sides. Those are the games that you’ve got to find a way to win, and sometimes they go your way and sometimes they don’t.”

Truth be told, according to Natural Stat Trick, the line of Couturier, Brink, and Matvei Michkov was the Flyers’ best when it came to trying to get them on the board. The trio generated 13 shot attempts to eight for the Lightning and created eight scoring chances compared to five against. The only problem was that the Lightning scored on two of them.

Couturier led the line in scoring chances created with five, while Tyson Foerster, who skated with Travis Konecny and Noah Cates, had six individual chances. One of his chances was on a two-on-one with Konecny, but unlike his quick strike on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, he waited a second, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made the save.

In the second period, the Flyers and Lightning traded chances, with the Flyers winning the chance battle, 14-9, in the third. Drysdale had several good looks Monday, and in the second period, he skated down the middle of the ice to fire a shot that Vasilevskiy saved. And although he was credited with one shot on goal and two missed shots, Michkov set up chances and had a shot on goal straight down the gullet.

» READ MORE: Flyers prospect Jett Luchanko traded to Ontario Hockey League favorite Brantford

The problem? “The Big Cat” saw everything all the way and didn’t have to move much. To beat the Russian netminder, you need bodies in front and to make him move.

“There were plays to be made, we just didn’t make them,” Tocchet said.

“We’ll learn; we’ll build,” Drysdale said. “We’ll be better and come back against Florida and play a good game.” The Flyers take on the Panthers on Wednesday in Sunrise, Fla. (7 p.m., NBCSP).

Flyers prospect Jack Nesbitt has been suspended three games by the Ontario Hockey League after receiving a match penalty on Nov. 22 against Saginaw. The match penalty came after he was called for roughing, after throwing a punch in a scrum. Nesbitt has 19 points in 18 games, including eight on the power play, for Windsor. The Spitfires are the top team in the OHL’s Western Conference (17-5-2-1).