Ivan Fedotov to start again Tuesday as John Tortorella continues to try to ‘iron out’ his goalie rotation

When the Flyers hit the ice on Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they will also hit the halfway point of the 2024-25 season.

The Flyers’ 41st game coincides with a return to the Wells Fargo Center after a grueling five-game, coast-to-coast road trip. The team’s 17-18-5 record entering Tuesday trailed their 20-14-6 record at this point a year ago, but Flyers coach John Tortorella sees this as part of the process.

“We have defined our style of play,” Tortorella said. “I think we’re pretty comfortable how we’re going to play. I think some guys have steadily improved. I think some guys have put themselves in the conversation, are still being evaluated, and that’s a big part of what this year is about.

“Uneven in the first half; some really good stuff, some stuff [where] we lose ourselves a little bit, but it’s nothing shocking to me. It’s a constant evaluation on all the players, as we continue to move forward.”

Undoubtedly the biggest question mark this season has been goaltending. The goalie trio of Sam Ersson, Aleksei Kolosov, and Ivan Fedotov has posted a .878 save percentage, the lowest in the NHL, while the team’s cumulative 3.55 goals allowed per game ranks third-worst in the league.

“Obviously, goaltending is something where each day I wake up, I’m not sure where it’s at, the way it’s gone so far,” Tortorella said. “But that’s something we’re trying to iron out.”

» READ MORE: Q&A: Do the Flyers have a solution to their goaltending woes? What does the future hold for Noah Cates and Cam York?

Fedotov got the start in net for the second consecutive game on Tuesday after sitting out for more than a month. In Fedotov’s previous start on Sunday, also against the Leafs, he stopped 22 of 25 shots in the 3-2 overtime loss.

Fetodov was designated the team’s No. 3 goalie in early December, but Ersson currently is day to day with a lower-body injury, and Kolosov has struggled lately. Over his last five appearances, Kolosov has gone 0-3-0 and allowed 16 goals.

“I think I was pretty honest at the beginning of the year where we’re at. We did not expect this, force-feeding Erss,” Tortorella said. “Let’s face it, we’re force-feeding him. We have two other guys coming from Russia, coming over in the picture a lot quicker than we ever thought they would be. When Carter [Hart] left, that threw this into an incessant turmoil. It is what it is. We’ve lived with it. We continue to live with it, and we do the best we can. ...

“No one foresaw this was going to happen. As you develop your team and you develop probably your most important position, we thought we’d have more time with Ersson to develop him. He gets thrown into it.”

Ersson was on the ice with the team at Tuesday’s morning skate. While Tortorella did not give a specific timeline on his injury, he did suggest that the Swede could be nearing a return to the lineup.

“I don’t think it’ll be long,” Tortorella said. “I don’t know where it’s at [after Tuesday’s skate]. ... We felt he started to get going, and he gets hurt. Hopefully, he can get himself solid and get back to it. And I think it’ll settle this down a little bit.”

Leafs forward Max Domi was fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement, for elbowing Garnet Hathaway during the third period on Sunday. ... Toronto enforcer Ryan Reaves also will draw into the lineup, so don’t be surprised to see him and Hathaway drop the gloves after Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe was injured in a fight with Hathaway on Sunday.