Flyers’ Ivan Fedotov will start vs. the Islanders and is the backup goalie because ‘he has stopped the puck’

ELMONT, N.Y. — Well, let’s get weird.

After weeks of goalie roulette, the Flyers backup goalie is officially Ivan Fedotov.

It’s been more than two weeks since the Russian netminder supplanted Aleksei Kolosov for the No. 2 spot behind Sam Ersson after consecutive starts against the Toronto Maple Leafs. On Wednesday, it was solidified when Kolosov was loaned to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

“I wouldn’t be playing him if I wasn’t comfortable [with him],” coach John Tortorella said of Fedotov, who has had multiple monthlong layoffs after losing the coach’s confidence this season. “He wouldn’t be moved to two if I was uncomfortable with him.”

But that doesn’t mean he has fallen in love with the 6-foot-7 goalie’s style. Tortorella started chuckling when asked about it and said: “You mean that two-pad stack?”

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He wasn’t making fun of Fedotov, though.

“That two-pad stack [was] because our defenseman jammed him up in the crease if you saw that. But that was a [heck] of a two-pad stack,” Tortorella said. “Haven’t seen it in quite a while.

“It’s still very unorthodox. But he has stopped the puck, and that’s why he’s No. 2. And it’s a pretty good story, quite honestly. I hope it continues to play out the proper way. … It gets a little weird sometimes because it is a little unorthodox because you’re so used to how the goalies play nowadays.”

Across his 13 starts this season, Fedotov is 4-5-3 with a 3.26 goals-against average and a .879 save percentage. In his last three starts, the Flyers got a point twice.

“I feel good, yeah” Fedotov recently told The Inquirer. “I played a couple games, great feeling. Something from nothing so it’s really, really good. I feel part of the team.”

Until the end of December, Fedotov wasn’t getting much practice time as the No. 3 netminder. Tortorella told goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh to focus on Ersson and Kolosov. Now, he’s getting reps and the work.

How he has stayed focused through the tough start, the healthy scratches, and the intermittent starts — Friday night’s game against the New York Islanders (7:30 p.m., NBCSP+) is his first start since a Jan. 14 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets — has impressed Tortorella.

“You have to just digest it because it just looks weird sometimes, but the damn guy’s stopped the puck, right?” Tortorella said. “He got kicked to the curb at No. 3. Shut his mouth.

“I remember I had one conversation with him, I said, ‘I don’t know where it goes?‘ He spent I don’t know how many weeks just skating up and down the boards hoping to get in the net if one of the other goalies needed a spell during the practice. Totally frustrated, all the stuff he had to do to get here, kicked to the curb, and he ate it and continued to work at his game.”

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The work has paid off as Fedotov looks more comfortable in net — and he feels more comfortable, too.

“When you’re playing the game, when you have some adrenaline, it’s, of course, great feelings because that’s why we’re practicing.” Fedotov said. “That’s why we are working all of our life.

“Of course, you’re upset a little bit when you’re not playing next game or something. But that just that situation, what we have right now, and I don’t care about that a lot. I’m just working, and I want to be ready for the next game, so just preparing.”

One thing he doesn’t have to practice is his two-pad stack. Searching for “Fedotov” and “stack,” you come across him making that move often for CSKA of the Kontinental Hockey League. Who knew Fedotov was a throwback?

The Islanders signed former Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo for the remainder of the 2024-25 season on Friday. He first has to clear waivers since he played in the Kontinental Hockey League this season.