It didn’t start out the way Anthony Stolarz had probably hoped for.
His NHL debut for the Philadelphia Flyers came Sunday, as they faced the Calgary Flames. T.J. Brodie opened the scoring with a backhander on the penalty kill. Again, not an ideal start. It’s a goal Stolarz would probably like to have back. But he settled in the rest of the way.
The Flames tested the 22-year-old Stolarz with 32 shots and the Flyers netminder stopped 29 of them for his first NHL win, as Philly earned a 5-3 victory.
So far this season, goaltending has been a huge issue for the Flyers.
It changed -- for one night, at least. Philly is still without Michal Neuvirth, who was expected to miss four to six weeks with a knee issue. But even before that, the numbers between Neuvirth and Steve Mason were brutal and have been well documented as one of the reasons why the Flyers have struggled out of the gate.
The Flyers host the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
There were some anxious moments early in the first period for Philly.
Rookie forward Travis Konecny fell hard into the boards and left the game briefly. But he did return later in the period.