Another day, another notch in the NHL history books for Philadelphia Flyers goalie Aleksei Kolosov.
Saturday, Kolosov made 19 saves in a 3-2 overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. It was his first NHL win and thus, the first-ever win by a goaltender from Belarus in NHL history.
Kolosov became the fourth goaltender in Flyers history to record their first career win in overtime. He was joined by Rob Zepp, Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov. That means all three of the current Philadelphia netminders were posting their first NHL triumph via an extra-sesion victory.
Recalled from the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Kolosov made his NHL debut in a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on October 27, making 20 saves. That appearance made him the first Belarusian to tend goal in an NHL game. He was also just the 17th Belarusian native to play in the National Hockey League.
Congratulations to Alexei Kolosov of the #LetsGoFlyers on winning his first career NHL game! #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/zUrlMrKDXF
— Dan Milstein (@HockeyAgent1) November 23, 2024
An issue for Kolosov is that he’s not fluent in English. That can make on-ice communication with his defensemen a bit tricky.
“The (defensemen) are talking and you can tell he doesn’t fully understand what we are calling and he ends up rimming a couple of the pucks,” Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim told Associated Press. “It’s something we have to continue to work on. It’s a tough spot (for him) to be put in.”
On the season, Kolosov is 1-4 with a 3.34 goals-against average and .877 save percentage. He’s currently sharing the Flyers netminding chores with Russian Fedotov. Fedotov was also posting his first NHL win this season, beating the Ottawa Senators on November 14.
Ersson, Philadelphia’s No. 1 goalie, is currently on IRL with a lower-body injury. Ersson has missed the past three games.
Kolosov and the Flyers obviously have overcome whatever obstacles were in place between the two sides over the offseason. The Belarusian puckstopper declined to attend the team’s summer development camp. In the fall, he expressed a desire to get out of the Philadelphia organization, not wishing to spend another season playing in the AHL.
Kolosov was hoping to be loaned back to his hometown team, Dinamo Minsk. The impasse was resolved when the Flyers set out a guarantee that Kolosov would be given an NHL opportunity this season.