Carter Hart to start; Louie Belpedio continues to impress on the Flyers’ blue line

RALEIGH, N.C. — Carter Hart has, once again, been named the starting goalie for the Flyers. This time, there should be nothing hindering him from doing so.

Hart was named the starter for the past two games but ended up not leading the team out of the tunnel. After missing three games with a back injury, he came down with food poisoning from some bad fish in Anaheim, Calif., and missed back-to-back games — and wins — against the Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.

» READ MORE: Rod Brind’Amour, Jeremy Roenick lead 5 Flyers with cases for the Hockey Hall of Fame

In front of Hart, the only lineup change is Egor Zamula slotting back in alongside Louie Belpedio after Victor Mete was sent down to Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. Bobby Brink is a healthy scratch for the second straight game with Ryan Poehling again playing alongside Joel Farabee and Scott Laughton.

“I wanted to put Poehls in more of an offensive situation. I wanted him to play with other people. We have 18 or 19 scoring chances against L.A., he’s involved in four of them,” coach John Tortorella said on Wednesday. “... Bobby, there was some struggle, I think the game caught up to him a little bit as far as the speed. Part of his processes, he’s going to watch some games, too. I want to get him back in, I’m not sure where or when.”

Belpedio isn’t new to the Orange and Black. He’s actually been a Flyer before. The only NHLer to come from Skokie, Ill., according to Hockey Reference, Belpedio suited up for the Skokie Flyers before moving up the ladder, which included stops with the U.S. National Development Team and Miami (Ohio) University, where he was captain for his last two seasons.

Drafted in the third round by the Minnesota Wild in 2014, he entered this season with 304 AHL games played and just four NHL ones across three big league seasons, all with the Wild. Rewarded for a strong 2022-23 campaign in Lehigh Valley, where he notched 27 points in 70 games, Belpedio signed a two-year, two-way extension in June and spent every day this summer driving down to Philly to be around the strength and conditioning coaches and the training staff to give himself the best opportunity.

Now, after being recalled from the Phantoms on Oct. 25, he has skated in nine straight.

“Obviously, everyone has different paths in their career. Mine led me here. I had a lot of games in the minors, a lot of tough days. I leaned on my family for that, and my work ethic,” said Belpedio, who also gave a lot of credit to his fiancée, Alyssa, for supporting his journey and to “kick me back into it” on the days he complained a bit more.

“... I’ve worked hard and, I feel like my work ethic and mindset has never changed throughout it all,” Belpedio added. “Good days, bad days, didn’t matter — just, you know, kept my head down and worked and did whatever I could to get back here and it finally feels good to be rewarded for that.”

Part of the reward for Belpedio was his first NHL goal on Nov. 3 against the Sabres, when he buried a blocked shot from the right circle. His second goal was even fancier, a top-shelf beauty after he sneaked past the Ducks defense.

Across his nine games in the NHL, Belpedio is averaging almost 13 minutes of ice time, with the majority of it coming at even strength. He is tied for eighth on the team at plus-3, and among defensemen is fourth in hits (11). He ranks first at five-on-five in On-Ice Goals For Percentage (66.6), per NHL.com.

Tortorella didn’t know what to expect from Belpedio, 27, at the NHL level. He wasn’t sure if the 5-foot-11, 197-pound defenseman could handle the tempo of the game and figured he’d be suiting up for the Phantoms this season. Now, with the return of Marc Staal and Rasmus Ristolainen on the horizon — each was out of non-contact yellow and wearing black during morning skate at PNC Arena — where Belpedio slots is to be determined, but he has more than impressed the bench boss thus far.

“The thing that draws you to Louie is, he’s just a great competitor and has made some really good plays,” Tortorella said. “[He] has had some dips along the way but seems to find himself and get his game back in order. Scored a couple of goals. Is up the ice. He’s not afraid, he’s not overwhelmed by playing regularly in the National Hockey League right now. ... The first time that he’s been called up this year, he has handled himself so very well.”

Belpedio played with Jack Eichel at the NTDP and remains close with the Vegas Golden Knights star. The pair regularly text and the defenseman is expecting to grab dinner with him on Friday night before the Golden Knights visit the Wells Fargo Center for a Saturday matinee. ... There are some big shoes to fill for the Flyers now that Kevin Hayes is in St. Louis — Gritty’s BFF. The mascot started off the audition process with one of the newest guys to don the Orange and Black: Garnet Hathaway. Things seemed to go well for the forward, whose son is a big fan, from afar. But — and not to give anything away — Hathaway isn’t too sure where things stand after Gritty wanted the loot to be split 70-30; as he said with a grin, “It didn’t seem fair to me, that’s where I drew the line.”