Sam Ersson, Aleksei Kolosov combine for shutout against Sharks

The Flyers ended the 2024 portion of the schedule with a bang against the San Jose Sharks.

Entering Tuesday night's game, the Flyers had gone 1-1-0 to start their West Coast road trip. They had a strong win against the Ducks, before blowing another lead to the Kings the following night. Against a Sharks team that couldn't buy a win in December, Philadelphia shut them out in all facets of the game.

Sam Ersson stopped all 15 shots he faced through two periods. Aleksei Kolosov was forced into action in the third period and he stopped all seven shots he faced. The two combined for a shutout in the 4-0 victory. It is technically the first shutout of Kolosov's career, though he won't get the credit for it.

The Flyers got contributions from some unlikely sources. Two of the team's four goals were from the backend. Nick Seeler opened the scoring with a highlight reel goal. Egor Zamula wrapped things up early in the third. In between those two goals, Ryan Poehling and Travis Konecny provided the other offense.

Sam Ersson leaves with injury, Aleksei Kolosov finishes off shutout

If there hasn't been enough flux in the Flyers' goaltending position, more might be added. Ersson, who looked strong during his two periods of play, would not return to the ice after the second intermission. There was, and still isn't, any update on his status. All John Tortorella could provide was that he believed the injury occurred when Ersson collided with Luke Kunin during the second.

Before that, Ersson looked sharp between the pipes. He wasn't challenged much, his best save coming on a breakaway from Tyler Toffoli. But a game like that was something the Flyers wanted to see from their goaltender.

Now the concern will be on what his injury may be. Having been sidelined twice due to injury already this season, the concern is high. If Ersson is to miss any time, that would bring Ivan Fedotov back into the mix.

Forced into action after sitting on the bench for two periods, Kolosov made more than a few high-quality saves to keep the shutout intact. Some of those saves came during 4-on-4 play with under seven minutes left in the third. Macklin Celebrini found Jan Rutta alone backdoor. Kolosov then had to make a tough save on Celebrini who was all alone in front after a feed from Rutta. Celebrini tried to put the moves on Kolosov, but the rookie goaltender didn't bite.

Flyers new look power play clicks

The power play has often been a topic of conversation in Philadelphia and not for good reason. The unit has been unable to find consistent success for years and has often hurt the Flyers. Changing up the unit, the Flyers found some success against the Sharks. They technically scored two goals, the first being waved off due to an offside challenge.

But the group of Konency, Owen Tippett, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, and Jamie Drysdale put their skills on display. Some excellent perimeter passing opened up a lane as Konecny found Tippett cross-ice. Tippett was able to spot Frost on the backdoor for the tap-in goal. Unfortunately for the Flyers, the Sharks challenged for an offside that happened way before the goal.

It was the right call, but a disappointment for the group on the ice. Possibly fueled by that goal being taken away, the unit connected later in the game. They needed just eight seconds of power play time to find a goal. Winning the faceoff, the Flyers' passes were precise and hard to the stick. The vision by Tippett to spot Konecny at the left dot was a perfect example of the chemistry this unit had going.

Defensemen provide spark for Flyers

The Flyers have been getting goals from a variety of places lately as some of their stars have hit droughts. Konecny's goal was his first in seven games. Matvei Michkov scored his first goal in the prior game after the same drought. Tippett had cooled down offensively over the last few games.

With that, getting offensive output from other areas has been important. Not much has coming from the back end prior to this game. The leading scorer on defense is Travis Sanheim with six, and he hasn't scored in the last seven games. Not only did the defense get involved against the Sharks, it came from two unlikely sources.

Nick Seeler, one of the most respected players in the locker room, can be good for a highlight reel play every once in a while. Most remember his goal against the Golden Knights last season. Seeler decided it was time to wow everyone again.

Taking the rim around the boards from Drysdale, Seeler zigged and zagged around Barclay Goodrow. Shooting with his skates facing the boards, he took a page out of Michkov's book and banked it off Alexandar Georgiev and in.

After a power play ended in the third period, the Flyers managed to keep the puck in and continued to go to work. After the initial shot by Zamula was knocked to the corner, the defenseman followed the puck and threw it toward the front of the net. It hit off the pants of Shakir Mukhamadullin and fluttered over the arm of Georgiev. You take them any way you can get them.

The Flyers will continue their road trip with a matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.