Photo Credit: NHL com
The Flyers are suffering with the injury/sick bug at the moment, where media and fans alike are left once again scratching their heads. Carter Hart has not been placed on IR (Injured Reserve) with a mid body injury, but according to him he has fully recovered. Unfortunately, he missed last night’s game after Head Coach John Tortorella said he would start with an illness once again. What an unreal turn of events, as the Flyers now are missing Hart, Marc Staal, and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Enter Cal Petersen who was recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in Hart’s absence well over a week ago, Petersen entered last night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings reeling after getting smoked by the Kings a week ago at home in Philadelphia. This happened to be a different game, as Peterson was phenomenal with his rebound control, en route to a 4-2 victory against his former team, “It’s amazing. The guys battled hard for me, blocking shots. Tell last year, but to do it here means so much,” Cal Petersen said following the game.
Theoretically, Hart’s absence isn’t a bad thing. This gave the Flyers a shot to not only get a look at a Samuel Ersson, but Petersen, as well. Hart’s absence allowed both Ersson and Petersen to regain their confidence. Ersson was struggling before Hart’s absence, and mainly that was due to lack of playing time. It appeared that he was struggling moving to a backup role, as opposed to a starting role. The two are much different, so hopefully now he can adjust himself properly. While Petersen we’re struggling in Lehigh, to the point who knew what goaltender you were going to get on a particular night. It wasn’t only Petersen’s fault, the play in front of him hasn’t been that good for Lehigh this season, at least in the early going.
John Tortorella did confirm that Carter Hart was supposed to start at morning skate, and this was the second consecutive game the Hart was supposed to start and didn’t. You’re worked in the Flyers favor once again, “I’m happy for him. Forget about what we’re going to do with our goalies. Tonight playing against his old team. I’m happy for him. I thought where he was good were rebounds. I’m happy for him,” Tortorella said following the game.
Petersen on one special night saved 35 shots on 37 shots faced, which was good enough for a .946 save percentage for the evening. He had tons of help in front of him, as the Flyers blocked 24 shots to propel the team to victory. Petersen was very appreciative of the guys battling for him all night, with blocking tons of shots, to give him his first NHL victory in almost a year. More importantly, he got revenge against his former club, which weight on the player’s minds following a back-to-back the prior weekend against his former club in a losing effort.
This allows the Flyers to juggle and have faith in their goaltending depth from here on out. If an injury arises fans in media alike do not have to panic. They can trust any goaltender to come in and perform well if they continue to get an effort like Petersen received last night against his former club.
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