With Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov, the Flyers have some uncertainty in net. Feels like old times.

Sam Ersson spent Tuesday touring New York with his girlfriend and spent Wednesday afternoon, after the Flyers had practiced, watching a movie and relaxing at home, because when a goaltender has played as poorly as Ersson lately, sometimes he has to get as far away from hockey as he can.

Over his last four games, Ersson has stopped fewer than 80% of the shots he has faced, has gone winless, and was benched Monday for a 27-year-old rookie who, having recently served in the Russian military, had never appeared in an NHL game before. It’s been a rough go for the Swedish netminder, and the Flyers are clinging to a playoff berth with six games left in their regular season, caught in a cluster with at least four other teams fighting to get in.

So, you know, no pressure to figure things out, kid.

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“When you’re not playing great, you know that,” Ersson said after the Flyers practiced in Voorhees on Thursday, one day before the first of back-to-back road games, in Buffalo against the Sabres, and in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. “But during a season, you’ll have your ups and downs. You don’t want to, but sometimes you’re going to have tough stretches. It’s a fine line about adjusting and correcting and not overdoing. You don’t want to overthink things and overcomplicate things.

“I know I’m the same goaltender I was a month ago, two months ago. It’s more of a mental state. It’s working hard in practice and doing the things I know will bring success.”

It’s April. The Flyers may or may not qualify for the postseason. And they have some questions about their goaltending. Remember when this scenario used to be a rite of spring around here? Ron Hextall or Garth Snow? John Vanbiesbrouck or Brian Boucher? Sergei Bobrovsky or Boucher or maybe Michael Leighton? Steve Mason or Michal Neuvirth? It’s good to know some things don’t change.

Carter Hart is gone and likely never coming back. Cal Petersen and Felix Sandström couldn’t hold up their end as backups. Fedotov finally arrived, then got dropped into the Flyers’ biggest game of the season after Ersson gave up two first-period goals to the Islanders, then played well enough that … well, these are the Flyers. These are their goalies. Who knows what’s next?

Tortorella, per his usual policy, declined Thursday to announce who would start in Buffalo. He said he would talk about it with Kim Dillabaugh, the team’s goalie coach, before making his decision. Then he praised Fedotov. Then he praised Ersson, who has appeared in 46 games this season, his first full one in the NHL, and might be wearing down, which has to be a consideration for Tortorella here down the stretch.

Like Tortorella said in his long and winding 15-minute press conference on Wednesday, it doesn’t matter that this team wasn’t expected to compete for a playoff spot, that it was supposed to be and still is rebuilding. It’s here. The postseason is at hand. What matters now are these last six games. So the coach has to get this call right. Is he going to go back to Ersson? Will he take another, and even greater, chance with Fedotov by starting him Friday or Saturday and beyond? These are the Flyers. These are their goalies. Who knows what’s next?

“We’re not even talking about trying to be better to get in if it wasn’t for Sam,” Tortorella said. “It’s a crazy situation with our goaltending this year. We don’t have a sniff at an opportunity to get in with six games left if Sam Ersson doesn’t play the way he’s played. He’s played a ton of hockey of late, and that was the decision we made. I just didn’t have confidence with some of the situations with our backups at that particular time, and he’s probably played too much. But we have not lost a moment of confidence in Sam.”

OK, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they had reams of confidence in Ersson to start with. He was supposed to be Hart’s understudy, and he has been thrust into a difficult role. But if he has played better than his statistics suggest, it’s at least in part because his statistics don’t present an especially high bar to clear. The average goaltender is giving up 2.90 goals a game this season. Ersson is giving up 2.81. The average goaltender’s save percentage this season is .904. Ersson’s is .892. Comparatively, he has been unexceptional. Which, for a 24-year-old who wasn’t supposed to be a full-time No. 1, is fine. It has gotten the Flyers this far.

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“We weren’t expecting Sam’s development to be going down this road,” Tortorella said. “But things happened. The amount that he’s played, it’s almost unfair to look at his numbers because we’ve put him in that spot. But as I’ve always said about Sam … he accounts for himself very well. I’m sure he’s licking his chops. He wants to make a difference to help us get through it here.”

Of course he does. Any goaltender would, and two-thirds of one game from Fedotov seems too small a sample size to turn the job over to him. Ersson is the safe choice. Ersson has been here all season. Ersson presumably has earned this shot. “I’ll be ready when my name is called,” he said. “That’s what I do. That’s my job.” But these are the Flyers, holding on to that playoff spot. And this, once again, is their goaltending. So really, who knows what’s next?