Samuel Ersson will miss at least one week with a lower-body injury.
The Flyers placed the goaltender on injured reserve Thursday. Aleksei Kolosov was called up from AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley to serve as the Flyers’ No. 2 goaltender. Dan Vladar will start Thursday at home against the Predators (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Head coach Rick Tocchet said Ersson tweaked something before Wednesday’s practice, which kept the 26-year-old off the ice.
“It’s a day-to-day thing, they’re still evaluating him,” Tocchet said Thursday morning. “But I don’t think it’s anything serious.”
The Flyers are in a stretch of three games in four nights. They have a back-to-back set at Xfinity Mobile Arena this weekend as they face the Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP) and Flames on Sunday (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP+).
Kolosov will likely get one of those games. After starting Thursday, it’s possible Vladar gets Sunday’s game against his former club.
Ersson was out three different times last season because of nagging lower-body issues. This season, he just picked up consecutive shootout wins, with the most recent coming Tuesday night in a 3-2 decision over the Penguins.
He’s slated to miss at least the next four games.
Vladar, a free-agent addition, has led the Flyers’ goaltending tandem with five starts. He has yet to give up more than two goals in a game, going 3-2-0 with a 1.81 goals-against average and .932 save percentage.
Kolosov has played well with the Phantoms, going 3-2-0 with a 2.60 goals-against average, .918 save percentage and one shutout.