Flyers goalie Sam Ersson returns from injury and will start against the Florida Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Flyers lineup is getting a key piece back.

Sam Ersson will return to the crease against the Florida Panthers on Saturday (6 p.m., NBCSP). He missed the past two games with a lower-body injury but did skate after the Flyers’ morning skate in Raleigh, N.C., and rotated in with Ivan Fedotov in Thursday‘s morning skate in Tampa Bay, then participated in Friday’s practice in Fort Lauderdale.

The Flyers No. 1 netminder left the game against the Boston Bruins a week ago in the first period. With 13 minutes and 12 seconds left in the frame, Ersson made a toe save on a shot that knocked his right skate blade off. After waving at the referees, who stopped play, assistant equipment manager John Peters replaced it, and play continued.

But something wasn’t right. After appearing to be testing something out in a commercial break, the broadcast showed the goalie shaking his head at the bench. The puck was dropped at 12:24, but the whistle quickly blew. Ersson skated over to the bench and spoke with head athletic trainer Tommy Alva, motioning to his left leg. Ersson left the game after making eight saves.

Aleksei Kolosov entered that game on Nov. 2, but now he is on the shelf after suffering a lower-body injury in the team’s morning skate on Thursday. Fedotov started on Thursday and earned his first NHL win. He will be the backup against the Panthers.

The return of Ersson brings some stability to the net. Before Fedotov’s win, Ersson was the only Flyers goalie to earn a victory. He had skated away with a W in his last three starts, including two straight, and had four wins on the season.

Ersson also brings a pretty spectacular record against the Panthers. He is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .961 save percentage.

While Ersson returns, Matvei Michkov will continue to watch from the press box. The Russian phenom was a healthy scratch on Thursday and will sit on Saturday too.

“When he goes back in we’ll see,” coach John Tortorella said Friday. “Again, as I said the other day, it’s part of the process, and we’ll just take it day by day.”

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A firm believer in the impact watching can have on young players — and older ones like Sean Couturier, who was a healthy scratch not long after being named captain — Tortorella has seen Michkov struggle with his play away from the puck at both ends of the ice.

His play has also dropped off lately, from a production standpoint and the eye test. Over his last five games, Michkov has just one assist, a power-play helper in Tuesday’s 6-4 loss to the Hurricanes.