Carter Hart clutch yet again in Philadelphia Flyers win over Red Wings

The Philadelphia Flyers traveled to Detroit to face the Red Wings in the second half of a home-and-home series for their final meeting of the regular season.

Looking for their third win in a row, the Philadelphia Flyers took on the Detroit Red Wings for the second time in a row at the Little Caesars Arena.

Carter Hart received the start and opposed Jonathan Bernier for Detroit. Bernier had a 3.37 Goals-Against Average and a .897 save percentage on the season, but looked solid in relief of Jimmy Howard on Saturday. The Flyers couldn’t let the journeyman goaltender continue to gain confidence and needed to mimic their offensive efforts from the previous meeting. Defenseman Philippe Myers also made his NHL debut, replacing Justin Bailey in the lineup as Interim Head Coach Scott Gordon decided to dress seven blue-liners.

Wayne Simmonds did what had to be done to start the game, fighting Anthony Mantha for his dirty hit on Claude Giroux in Saturday’s matchup on the second shift. Simmonds walked away victorious, landing a couple of nice shots during the scuffle. After trading scoring chances with Detroit throughout most of the first, the Flyers would finally get themselves on the board thanks to a deflection goal from Oskar Lindblom. Sean Couturier made a nice pass to the 22 year-old forward in front, helping Philadelphia leave the first period with a 1-0 lead.

Detroit began the middle stanza making a goalie change, substituting Howard in for an injured Bernier. The Flyers received the game’s first power-play following offensive pressure from the Red Wings, but were unable to muster up a shot-on-goal during the two minute opportunity. Giroux ended up committing a penalty of his own, hooking Andreas Anthanasiou to put Philadelphia on the penalty kill.

No damage was done, though, as Hart made strong saves while shorthanded. Danny Helm would eventually figure out the former second round selection, scoring off the rebound to tie the game up at one. His tally didn’t come as much of a surprise given the sustained amount of chances the Red Wings created, which allowed Helm to break a 20 game goal-less drought and bring things even after 40 minutes of play.

Ivan Provorov regained the Flyers lead early on as the third started, blasting a shot from the point right by Howard for his sixth goal of the year. A good pinch from Myers set it all up, giving Phil Varone the opportunity to assist on Provorov’s one-time tally. Detroit nearly doubled the Flyers in shots for the entire game, but couldn’t get the puck by Hart a second time as they lost to Philadelphia 3-1 due to an empty-net tally from Lindblom.

Hart stood tall when it mattered most, rebounding from a less than stellar performance in his last start. He made 37 saves on the 38 shots he saw, remaining calm between the pipes through the full 60 minute game. Philadelphia definitely doesn’t win this matchup without his performance in-net, once again playing a huge role in a victorious effort for the Orange and Black.

The Flyers are now 28-24-7 on the 2018-19 campaign. Next game is Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.