Breaking down the four-goal first period in Flyers loss to Flames

Riding a five-game point streak and a win against one of the best teams in the league, the Flyers returned home for a seven game stretch at the Wells Fargo Center. Their opponent? A Calgary Flames team that had just one goal in their last three games.

All signs pointed to the Flyers continuing their offensive outpouring and moving their point streak to six games. But even with two days since their last game, Philadelphia struggled in almost every facet of the game on Tuesday night.

Nothing was worse than a span of 1:52 in which the Flames tallied three goals and sent Sam Ersson packing. The normally steady Ersson allowed those three goals while only facing five total shots. He lasted 9:32 before being pulled for Ivan Fedotov.

Ersson was given a complete night off last Saturday after he struggled against Pittsburgh in his prior outing. He allowed three goals on 25 shots that game, as the Penguins came back from a 3-0 deficit to win 5-4 in overtime. So he should've come into the game against the Flames completely rested.

However, there was something off about him. Now, the whole team ended up struggling and looking out of sorts. But for Ersson, he's normally the calm one in the net. The Flames ended up cruising to a 6-3 victory, but four first period goals gave them the victory.

There was not much Ersson could've done on Connor Zary's goal to open the scoring. A shot from the point by Brayden Pachal was tipped in front by Zary. Not many goaltenders are going to make that save. But the next two goals were ones where blame falls on Ersson.

It all began with a turnover in the offensive zone. Kadri carried the puck up the ice in what turned into a 2-on-1 for the Flames. Skating into the zone, Kadri ripped a shot from just inside the face off dot that Ersson almost seemed surprised about. He barely reacted as the puck blew past him.

It's almost as if Ersson gets caught watching Kadri fly into the zone. It's not as if he was playing the pass. He was facing Kadri the entire time. There was just no reaction as the puck was fired.

Zary would get his second of the night shortly after. This one again began with a turnover in the offensive zone as Andrei Kuzmenko's pass up the wall was intercepted by Zary and chipped across to Kevin Rooney. Rooney skated through the neutral zone and nearly through a few Flyers' defenders.

As the puck came loose, Zary picked it up and spotted Ersson leaning toward the middle of the ice. Spotting room at the top corner of the net, Zary fired the puck as it went off Ersson's shoulder and into the back of the net.

This is one where Ersson is caught puck watching as well and gets taken off his post. By the time he's able to react, it's too late. While he got a piece of the puck, he was too deep into his net for it to bounce somewhere safely. That ended his night early and brought Fedotov in.

Fedotov's performance in his last start was incredible, but this was a game where the damage was already done by the time he came in. Noah Cates did score shortly after the goaltending change, while Andrei Kuzmenko brought the Flyers within one. But that was as close as they would get.

The Flames would restore the two-goal lead less than 20 seconds later. As the Flyers tried to exit their defensive zone, good forechecking by Morgan Frost popped the puck loose for Martin Pospisil. He fired a long range shot that went off the pad of Fedotov.

Yegor Sharangovich found the loose puck and fired it from a tough angle that somehow went between the legs of Fedotov.

Fedotov has had his own adventures in the net at times and this was another one that had no business going in the back of the net. He's late to react to the puck at the side of the net and as he tries to get over, it opens up his five hole for the puck to slide through.

The Flyers now have one game remaining until the trade deadline. And it'll be a visit from a Winnipeg Jets team that is no doubt looking for revenge after this past Saturday's game. Ersson is likely to be back in the net and Philadelphia will need him at his best.