Flyers recall goaltender Cal Petersen, hinting Carter Hart will miss time through injury

It looks like the Flyers will be without the services of No. 1 netminder Carter Hart for at least the next few games after the team recalled Cal Petersen from Lehigh Valley on Thursday evening. The Flyers have yet to provide an official timeline regarding Hart’s injury.

Hart left Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at the 10-minute mark of the first period after sustaining, what the team is calling, a “mid-body injury.”

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Just 5:17 into the game, Sabres captain Kyle Okposo fell over a splayed-out Hart as he tried to bury a rebound. Hart appeared to have trouble getting up and stayed down on the ice after the whistle blew a few seconds later. He seemed to be reaching for his lower back at times as the trainer came out.

Hart stayed in the game and made a strong pad save on Jeff Skinner, whom he then allowed an overturned goal to, before leaving after Brandon Biro scored 34 seconds later to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead.

The Flyers goaltender entered Wednesday night with a 4-3-0 record, the NHL’s sixth-best goals-against average (2.30), and tied with Anaheim’s Lukáš Dostál for ninth in save percentage (.921) among goalies who had played a minimum of five games. He also posted a 26-save shutout against the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 17.

With him potentially unable to go for a stretch of games — including back-to-back games Friday in Buffalo and Saturday at home against the Los Angeles Kings — the Flyers will have to rely on Sam Ersson and the veteran Petersen, who heads to the big club with defenseman Victor Mete loaned to the Phantoms in a corresponding move.

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Ersson, 24, came off the bench against the Sabres and looked steady as he stopped seven of nine shots. It was a solid performance considering he came in cold and while he “just wants to win” games, his overall numbers have been poor this season. In his two starts, he’s posted a 5.91 GAA and .760 save percentage, including allowing seven goals on 25 shots against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.

“Sam has shown us many times that he can bounce back,” coach John Tortorella said on Wednesday night. “I’ve listened to him talk to you guys [the media], I think he self-evaluates very well. That’s a really important part of a player, their self-evaluation and I think he’s very strict with that with how he feels about himself. I think that’ll get him through it.”

Last season, the 2018 fifth-round pick was 6-3-0 in 12 games (10 starts) and posted a 3.07 GAA, .899 save percentage, and added a shutout against the Sabres. He also went on a tear, winning his first six NHL decisions including a clean sweep of the Californian teams beginning in late December. The Flyers start a four-game road trip through California and Carolina beginning on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks.

“You saw it last year how good he was and probably a couple of games he wants to have back,” Scott Laughton said. “But I thought he was really strong for us. Came in, it’s tough as a goalie coming in and you’re a little bit cold and he gave us a chance.”

The 29-year-old Petersen, a former member of the Kings, has yet to make his Flyers debut after being acquired in the Ivan Provorov trade alongside defenseman Sean Walker, prospect Helge Grans, and multiple draft picks in June. In four games with Lehigh Valley, he is 1-3-0 with a 3.76 GAA and .884 save percentage. His last NHL start was Nov. 22 of last year, a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers.

The Flyers elected to go with Petersen over No. 3 Felix Sandström, given Sandström has not played in a month. Sandström loaned to Lehigh Valley on a conditioning stint on Wednesday.