The lower-body injury Carter Hart sustained which will sideline him for at least 10 days actually took place during Thursday morning’s skate in Montreal, according to Flyers interim head coach Scott Gordon.
However, Hart never disclosed the injury to his coach prior to the start of the game against the Canadiens. Hart was pulled in the first period after allowing three goals on nine shots.
“Carter, to his credit, was trying to fight through it and it was a little more severe than he thought,” Gordon said. “When I look back at the game, forget about the goals — the shot before the third goal, there was a couple other plays that I thought he was a little off on and he just didn't look right to me. And now that might explain it."
Gordon said he had no idea of Hart’s injury until he spoke with general manager Chuck Fletcher after meeting with the media Friday, when he made the announcement that Brian Elliott would be the starter in net for Saturday's Stadium Series game against the Penguins.
“Needless to say, it would have been a lot easier if I had known yesterday that he wasn't going to play Saturday," Gordon said. "Then I wouldn't have had my four-minute conversation with you."
In hindsight, Gordon could sense Hart wasn’t quite right — not with the goals he allowed, but with some of the saves he made.
"I couldn't tell if he was favoring it,” Gordon said. “I don't necessarily look at just the goals if I'm going to pull the goaltender. It's more about how he's handling rebounds and I felt pucks were coming off him funny."
NHL
Hart is expected to miss at least the next ten days, or the next five games on the Flyers' schedule. He’s the fifth different Flyers goaltender to sustain an injury this season.
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