Ivan Fedotov earns first NHL victory in Flyers comeback win over Tampa Bay

Ivan Fedotov was not supposed to start this game. While Sam Ersson did join the Flyers on the road trip, he is not ready to return. Aleksei Kolosov was expected to get his second straight start.

Then Kolosov was seen talking to a trainer during the morning skate before leaving early and not returning. With no other option, it was Fedotov who became the starter. Unable to get a regular backup to Tampa in time, the Flyers signed goaltender Kyle Konin to a one-day contract. He was Tampa's EBUG and had appeared in two NHL games prior.

It was Fedotov's first game action since Oct. 23 when he gave up four goals in a loss to the Capitals. But you wouldn't know that with his effort against the Lightning. Despite allowing a late first-period goal on a play in which he overcommitted, Fedotov recovered and didn't let another shot past him.

With 23 saves on 24 shots, Fedotov earned his first career NHL win in his seventh career game. He kept the Flyers in the game and was a large reason they were able to make a comeback to increase the Lightning's losing streak to four games.

Fedotov shuts things down

It hasn't been an easy start to the season for Fedotov. In three games, he has allowed four or more goals in each. He was pulled in his second start after giving up five goals to the Kraken. It was the second consecutive game in which he allowed five. Confidence in him was at an all-time low. Hence why Aleksei Kolosov had been recalled, taking over the backup spot.

But being thrust into action with Kolosov's injury, Fedotov looked like a more confident goalie than in prior outings. There were still a few things you'd like to see him settle down on. He tends to overcommit to shots and has to make incredible efforts to get back into the play. There are times when he still struggles looking around traffic as well.

Plenty of goaltenders have given up goals to Nikita Kucherov. But it was an example of Fedotov biting and overcommitting on a play, allowing Kucherov to get the wraparound. With Kucherov skating into the offensive zone and toward the side of the net, Fedotov gets caught way out of his net, and by the time he can recover, it's too late. Sean Couturier nearly made a diving play on the other side to stop Kucherov. But there's a reason he leads the league in goals.

Fedotov made plenty of big saves before and after that, allowing the Flyers to keep themselves in the game. One of those came on a breakaway from former Flyer Cam Atkinson. Fedotov also made a big save in overtime where he had to dive across to get his body on it. It was a nice effort and nice reward for Fedotov to get his first career win.

Owen Tippett scores in back to back games

One of the players the Flyers need to get going on offense is Owen Tippett. Things have been trending in the right direction for the forward as he scored in the loss against Carolina. It was his first in five games and only his second of the season. He added another at a key time against the Lightning.

Tippett is well known for his speed and he used it to skate into the offensive zone and fire a backhand shot that went over the shoulder of Andrei Vasilevskiy and in. The Tampa Bay goaltender didn't have his entire body covering the post, allowing Tippett to find room at the top of the net. It was an impressive play from a player who may be finding his own confidence.

The goal came with under five minutes to go and was another reward for a Flyers' team that was firing the puck on net at a higher rate than their last few games. They finished with 31 shots after averaging only 19 in their last four games. Scott Laughton led the team with five shots as all but four players had at least one shot.

Tippett wasn't done, however. After Travis Konecny scored in the shootout, Tippett came out with a chance to win the game after Fedotov stopped both Gage Goncalves and Victor Hedman. And Tippett did just that to break the Flyers mini two-game losing streak.

Hopefully seeing multiple pucks go in the net during one game can get Tippett going.

We should find out in the next day or two how serious of an injury Kolosov suffered. But if Fedotov can put up this kind of effort more often, he can play himself back into more of a regular role with the Flyers. They'll be back in action on Saturday against the Panthers.