Brian Elliott Has Played Big For Flyers In Recent Stretch

With Carter Hart injured, Brian Elliott has needed to carry the load for the Philadelphia Flyers. And he’s stood up to the test thus far.

When Carter Hart left practice with an injury, everyone held their breath to find out the verdict. The Philadelphia Flyers, then, announced that he would be out two to three weeks with an abdominal strain, which was somewhat of a sigh of relief given how worse it could’ve been. The All-Star break was coming, giving Hart more time to rest.

The Flyers were in the middle of a big stretch of games, however. They had just come off a big shootout victory over the Bruins. Hart had actually been the goaltender in that one. With the Blues, Canadiens, Kings, and Penguins left before the break, Brian Elliott was called upon to handle the load. The team did call up Alex Lyon, who would get one game during that stretch. He was in net for the only loss, though the Flyers didn’t show up much against the Canadiens in that one.

That gave Elliott the best team in the league in St. Louis, the Penguins first visit to Philadelphia, and a lowly Kings team that had beaten the Flyers once before. And with the Flyers having already shown up against two other top teams, these were expected to be big games. And Elliott didn’t disappoint in any of them.

He came away as the winning goaltender in all three games, giving up a combined four goals between the pipes. Three of those goals came against the Blues, his first game of the stretch, and the goal against the Kings came in the third period of a game that was pretty much decided. He also shutout one of the most potent offenses in Pittsburgh. That’s right, neither Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin had a point that night. That’s far from the 7-1 drubbing the Flyers faced back in October, where Crosby had three points.

Elliott has been exactly what the Flyers needed. Taking a closer look at the numbers through Natural Stat Trick, Elliott faced a total of 87 shots in those three games. And as already mentioned, he stopped 83 of those shots, most of which came at even strength. He only faced one shot on the power play in just over 10 minutes of shorthanded time. Of the goaltenders that also played three games during that stretch, Elliott ranked third with a .954 SV%.

One of the most significant stats that are looked at for goaltenders is Goals Saved About Average. The stat takes the save percentage of a league-average goaltender and applies it to the number of shots a goaltender faces. Using that number, it is then compared to what the other goaltender has actually let in. For Elliott, he is on the positive side of this. His GSAA stood at 3.77, meaning he was saving almost four more goals than the league average goaltender would’ve during his three-game stretch. That ranked fourth behind goaltenders such as Elvis Merzlikins and Carey Price.

At 35-years-old, Elliott may not have much time in the league left. But he’s certainly making the most of his time with the Flyers. The oft-injured goaltender has been anything but that this season. There’s still likely a few more games left before Hart is ready to return. Two weeks would put him just before the Flyers return from break. Three weeks would have him on February 6th.

It wouldn’t be surprising for the Flyers to play it safe with their young goaltender. If he returned after two weeks, it would be against the Penguins or the Avalanche. The three-week return would be right before they face the Devils. Either way, Elliott may have to hold things down for a couple more games when the Flyers make their return.

If Elliott can continue the stretch of play he is on right now, the Flyers won’t have a thing to worry about as the year goes along.