Playing in front of his parents and his billet from his Everett Silvertips career, highly touted 20-year-old Flyers goaltender Carter Hart became the youngest goalie in Flyers history to win his NHL debut; or any game at all. In a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night, Hart
did not have to be spectacular but was steady and poised. He turned aside 20 of 22 shots to also make a winner of interim head coach Scott Gordon in his first game behind the Flyers bench.
Hart had help. The team played a defensively solid game in front of him for the most part, limiting both the quantity and quality of chances Hart faced. There were a few times where he had to rise the occasion, and did so for the most part. He had little chance to stop a heavily screened first Detroit goal, and bounced back after a puck was stuffed between his pads from close range early in the third period.
"It was something special tonight just to be out there. I was trying not to think about it too much before the game and just prepare like any other game. Now it’s starting to sink in a little bit when I saw my mom on TV there and my billet, Parker, and my dad, who all made the trip. I’m just lucky that I get to share this experience with the people that have supported me my whole life and have sacrificed a lot for me," Hart said.
"I didn’t nap. I didn’t really sleep last night much, either. I just kind of followed my routine and just tried to keep a quiet mind and prepare the same as I always do. The boys did a really good job tonight of shutting them down and didn’t give them very much at all for offense, so I thought we played really well."
The Flyers got one goal and one assist apiece from James van Riemsdyk (4th) and Shayne Gostisbehere (4th). Radko Gudas (2nd) also tallied for Philadelphia. Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny (who missed several shifts in the first period before returning), Nolan Patrick and Michael Raffl had one assist apiece.
All 18 Flyers skaters tonight registered at least one shot attempt and 17 of the 18 -- Ivan Provorov did not -- recorded at least one shot on goal. Ice time was well distributed with ever skater playing at least 9:44 (Phil Varone, who had two good scoring chances and set up another but was part of coverage gaffe on the second Detroit goal, was the only Flyer under 10 minutes on this night). Travis Sanheim (21:06 TOI across 26 shifts, including 1:14 of power play time) blocked four shot attempts, put all three of his own shot attempts on net and was plus-two at even strength.
"I think it’s a big relief for everybody. Our record over the last little stretch here obviously has been frustrating for everybody. Myself you always want to start off on the right foot, for Carter I think it was a real fair first game for him to have. And for the team to go through what it’s had to go through, to come in here come off the road, usually that first game back home is the toughest, I thought our energy level was great, our morning skate was great, the pre-game skate, and I think it was a good way to start," Gordon said.
"I wanted them to identify our opportunities to move the puck north. On breakouts we talked about the neutral zone, and I thought they did a really good job in the neutral zone on our attacks. Breakouts for the most part were pretty good, but I think the biggest thing is to manage our puck. If the ice is in front of you, you’re [inaudible] if the ice is behind the defensemen then put it behind. That should be a really easy read, it shouldn’t be something you have to force. There will be other times, you play another shift. I thought overall we did a good job of that."
As Gordon often did with the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers starting lineup differed somewhat from the lines that were used in the morning skate and pregame warmups. Patrick centered Giroux and Konecny at practice on Monday (prior to Gordon's arrival) and Tuesday's morning skate. They were not together in the game.
Dennis Cholowski (power play, 6th) and Jacob de la Rose (2nd) scored for Detroit. Gustav Nyquist, Dylan Larkin, Martin Frk and Christoffer Ehn chipped in an assist apiece.
Jimmy Howard was slated to make the start in goal for the Red Wings. He suffered a back injury in warmups and was unable to play. Jonanthan Bernier stepped in, and stopped 30 of 33 Flyers shots. An emergency goaltender, Justin Kowalkoski, dressed for the game and was credited as the backup goaltender on the official game summary.
The first half of the opening period did not have a lot of flow, due to frequent whistles. The Flyers defended well and generated six of the game's first seven shots, although not many dangerous scoring opportunities.
Finally, the Flyers grabbed a 1-0 lead at 18:33 of the first period. The Flyers won a puck battle to start the sequence leading up to a nifty van Riemsdyk deflection in front after a Claude Giroux shot from up high.
At 4:12 of the second period, the Red Wings tied the game on the power play after an offensive zone slashing penalty on the forecheck by Oskar Lindblom. Vanek took Hart's eyes away with the screen directly in front of him and Cholowski weaved a shot from deep center slot past Hart.
Philly regained the lead -- for good, as it turned out -- at 8:52 of the second period. A broken play in which both teams turned pucks over ended up working out fine for the Flyers as they wound up scoring for a 2-1 lead on a right point shot by Radko Gudas that beat Jonathan Bernier to the stick side.The Red Wings challenged the goal, claiming goaltender interference by van Riemsdyk. Replays showed that JVR's skate made contact with Bernier's left skate but it happened before Gudas' shot was released, and did not affect Bernier's angle or opportunity to make a save. Thus, the goal stood.
At 15:17 of the second period, Philly got what proved to be a big insurance goal. Gostisbehere joined a rush as a trailer, took a pass from Patrick and beat Bernier upstairs from the slot. The Flyers had a 20-14 shot on goal edge through 40 minutes.
Detroit capitalized on winning a battle and beating some poor coverage as de la Rose took a passout from Frk to beat Hart at the 2:00 mark of the third period and narrow the gap to 3-2.
The Flyers went back to playing good defense and managing the puck well for most of the period.
In the final few minutes of the game, the Wings made another push and had some opportunities. They pulled Bernier for and extra attacker with 1:50 left in regulation. The Flyers got through the remaining time on the clock, and the game ended with a delayed penalty on the Flyers but no touch up before the final horn sounded and the puck out in the neutral zone.
The Flyers players and coaches filed up the tunnel and back to the locker room. The Wings waited around their bench in the hopes time would be put back on the clock, but the game was over. Third period shots were 13-8 in the Flyers' favor.
Philadelphia went 0-for-2 on the power play, and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
The Flyers, now 13-15-4, will hold an 11 a.m. practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Wednesday before hosting the powerhouse Nashville Predators at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday. Retired Flyers and Predators alum left winger Scott Hartnell will be honored with a tribute night.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»