Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to get ‘another crack at it’ against the Blues
Ristolainen, who signed a five-year, $25.5 million contract extension in March, has struggled this season and was scratched by John Tortorella on Saturday in Ottawa.
There isn’t a single part of Rasmus Ristolainen’s game that coach John Tortorella is satisfied with, but he’s not writing him off yet.
Ristolainen returned from a lower-body injury Oct. 27, played four games, and was a minus-4 before Tortorella scratched him Saturday ahead of a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. The defenseman hadn’t met Tortorella’s expectations, and Tortorella wasn’t taking his previous injury as an excuse since he appears to now be at full strength.
“I don’t think he’s played well enough,” Tortorella said. “He’s going to get another crack at it. But everything about his game, I think, he needs to be better.”
Tortorella will give Ristolainen “another crack” Tuesday in the Flyers’ home game against the St. Louis Blues. All he asks is that he “plays better.”
Tortorella’s expectations aren’t that Ristolainen will contribute a bunch of points. He said he just wants him to be “solid defensively.” Ristolainen has always been known as a hard hitter, but Tortorella said he needs more than that.
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“It’s nice to get a hit in, but I want to see the play stopped,” Tortorella said.
Assistant coach Brad Shaw is working with Ristolainen. He’s emphasizing that Ristolainen needs to move his legs with and without the puck. That hopefully will help him get into the correct positions, an important element of a game that’s all about structure.
“I think Shawsy is going to help him,” Tortorella said. “I do. I have so much respect [for] how Brad Shaw looks at that position and what a player needs.”
The expectations of Ristolainen, 28, are higher because he’s been in the league for a decade and logged 612 games. He also signed a five-year contract extension with an average annual value of $5.1 million in March. Tortorella said he wants him to play like the veteran he is. Although he’s been underwhelmed by Ristolainen so far, Tortorella said he’s not “chucking Risto away” yet. But the reality is the Flyers have a number of young defensemen they want to develop.
“We’ve got a back end that’s in flux and young, couple guys down in the minors that we’re going to look at, I’m sure, eventually here,” Tortorella said. “And I don’t know what it’s going to be.”
Hanging with Hart
Goalie Carter Hart has been the backbone behind the Flyers’ 6-3-2 start, but he hasn’t been the heart.
Tortorella said he and the goalie still are getting to know each other — Tortorella leaves a lot of the coaching of goaltenders to the goalie coaches — but he likes what he has seen on the ice. He always can trust Hart to be prepared, and his preparation has carried over into games. This season, Hart is 6-0-2 and boasts a .946 save percentage and a 1.97 goals-against average.
Tortorella has yet to see Hart go through many struggles. When they do happen, he will have to see how Hart handles himself, but he thinks the 24-year-old has found his calm and his humility in a tough sports environment.
“I just like that he’s kept himself level,” Tortorella said. “Doesn’t carry himself being big. I want him big in net when he’s playing. He doesn’t need to be big anywhere else.”
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However, all that preparation and concentration can create “blinders,” Tortorella said. The goaltender position is unique in sports, in Tortorella’s opinion, but it can be isolating.
“It’s a position that I think you can get caught being in your zone, which you need to be,” Tortorella said. “But then you go from the zone into your bunker, and you forget there’s other guys there. ... You have to be cognizant that they want to see you, too. They want to hang with you a little bit, too.”
Hart was a late scratch for Tuesday night’s game because of an unspecified illness.
Breakaways
The Flyers host the Blues at 7 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center. ... Felix Sandström (0-3, .894 SV%) will be a late replacement in net for Hart (illness) as the team debuts its new Reverse Retro jerseys. ... Forward Kieffer Bellows and defenseman Egor Zamula will come out of the lineup. Tortorella said he hasn’t had enough time to develop an opinion on Bellows, who was claimed off waivers from the New York Islanders on Oct 27. He also reiterated his commitment to keeping Zamula up with the NHL team.