Carter Hart returns vs. Red Wings after sitting last five games due to illness

DETROIT — At the Flyers’ morning skate Thursday, coach John Tortorella said there was no long-term concern regarding the health of Carter Hart. And that appears to be the case as the goalie was back between the pipes Friday against the Red Wings.

Hart had not played due to illness since leading the Flyers to a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 9. He did serve as the backup for Sam Ersson against the Nashville Predators on Dec. 12 to close the eight-day road trip out West and again Thursday night in the 4-2 home loss against the same opponent. But between those two games, he was in and out across games, practices, and morning skates.

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In the three games between the Nashville bookends, Ersson started each one with a different backup. Felix Sandström was on the bench in the 4-3 shootout win against the Washington Capitals on Dec. 14; Hart was the guy in a 1-0 win against the Red Wings less than a week ago; and Cal Petersen was Ersson’s backup in the win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Hart has also missed a practice or two but stayed on the ice for an extended amount of time Thursday after the team’s morning skate. He looked comfortable in net, despite missing considerable game action.

Hart revealed on Dec. 16 he’s been dealing with an undisclosed illness that is now being addressed. He has missed at least five games due to illness, including two games in California due to what he thought at the time may be food poisoning after eating bad fish, but could be related to what he is dealing with now.

» READ MORE: Flyers’ Carter Hart now has answers to illness that has ‘been going on for a while’

The change in net comes after Ersson started five straight, going 3-1-1 with a 2.16 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage, and one shutout — a 32-save performance against the Red Wings. Although he was in net for the team’s loss on Thursday night, he was not the focal point for the coach’s ire as the Flyers struggled to forecheck and kept trying to run their transition game.

Tortorella was not happy with his squad when he addressed the media at Wells Fargo Center, saying the issue was “stubbornness,” and the bench boss had still not forgotten it less than 24 hours later.

“I’m [expletive],” Tortorella said while standing outside the team’s locker room at Little Caesars Arena. “I’ve eaten it all day long, how we let one get away from us last night. Give them credit, they checked the [expletive] out of us. And we didn’t have an answer. We did not handle ourselves the right way. But I like our room and I like our team.”

Tortorella added: “Listen, I’m gonna be honest about the team. I think that’s part of my job, is to let them know what we feel about them. And it’s one thing about our room, there’s nothing but total honesty going on in there. And sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. But I think it’s important that we all have that type of communication and let each other know where we all stand.

“I do, I like our team. I think we’ve got a really good team. And I do, I think we do have [expletive]. We have found our way here the last little bit, really disappointed in last night’s third period and we just didn’t manage a close game and we’ve made tremendous improvement in that in these close games. But I expect us to be ready.”

Egor Zamula, who was a healthy scratch Thursday night, will slot in. Marc Staal will come out of the lineup.