The Flyers may want to find a way to steer Carter Hart’s bed where and when they’re heading this season.
The 22-year-old goalkeeper was not the biggest fan of his slumber at the Boston hotel last week when the Flyers had a two-game trip against the Bruins. Hart must have slept well in his own bed before taking on the Devils in the Prudential Center when he was called to lift the Flyers to a 3-1 victory on Thursday night.
The Flyers have not been perfect for a long time and are often played out by New Jersey, but they will worry about that later. Hart returned and the team earned the two games against the Devils.
Despite the Flyers winning 5-3 on Tuesday, head coach Alain Vigneault made some changes at the back. Finally, he pushed the right buttons by adding Erik Gustafsson and Nate Prosser in the series.
The Flyers (5-2-1) scored a few goals in the third period from Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux after the Devils (3-3-1) passed 24-8 over the first two stanzas.
• Hart has not played since last Saturday. He was reaching a piece in which, for the first time in his career, he allowed four or more goals in three consecutive starts. He allowed seven goals in the third period during two games in Boston.
He was glad the Flyers traveled to Newark, New Jersey, the day of both games against the Devils.
“It’s nice that we’re just a short bus ride to Jersey, and that we can sleep in our own beds. I think it’s big,” Hart said Wednesday. “I know the first few nights on the way there in Boston, it’s hard to sleep well in the hotel bed if you haven’t slept in a bed in a long time.”
At the start of Thursday, Hart’s shots at 60 minutes (34.8) were the second highest in the NHL among goal scorers with five or more games played. He conceded 33 saves on 34 shots against the Devils.
Mackenzie Blackwood, No. 1 goalkeeper from New Jersey, was out again due to the COVID protocol. Scott Wedgewood, who started just 25 careers, had to stop just 14 times.
• To no surprise, Prosser performed for his first NHL game in more than two years, scoring the Flyers’ first goal.
OK, just kidding. Both storylines were not expected.
The 34-year-old defender scored his first NHL goal since April 5, 2018 to draw the Flyers 1-1 at the opening frame. Prosser, who had a good game, was consistent and played four minutes on the penalty goal.
Gustafsson has times when he will struggle defensively, but he can really influence games with his legs and passing ability. He provided two assistants in his return to the series after Tuesday’s healthy scratch. His second helper was an excellent primary feed on Giroux’s 3-1 goal.
• The fourth line of Raffl, Connor Bunnaman and Nicolas Aube-Kubel was big by setting the tone in the last frame. The group produced the match winner 2:10 in the third period.
• The Flyers have been eliminated in seven of their eight games, five of them with double-digit limits.
Prosser has no disrespect, if the Flyers were to announce that on Thursday two periods for Prosser would be their only goal scorer and they would have eight shots, they would not have loved their chances.
The Flyers have yet to get to play a full game.
• Vigneault said the forecast that Philippe Myers (broken rib) will skate again on Thursday and ‘feel good’. Vigneault will meet with Jim McCrossin, director of sports medicine, of Myers and Flyers on Friday to evaluate the 24-year-old defender’s status for the weekend’s rugby set. (more about Myers here).
According to Vigneault, Sean Couturier, who is recovering from a costochondral separation suffered on January 15, is “a few more weeks away” from his return. (more about Couturier here).
The Flyers face the Islanders this weekend for the first time since their second-round defeat to New York in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The islanders visit the Wells Fargo Center for games on Saturday (19:00 ET / NBCSP) and Sunday (19:00 ET / NBCSP). New York beat the Flyers nine of the 12 times in 2019-20, including the preseason, regular season and post-season. In all 12 games, the Islanders have scored three or more goals.
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