Flyers eyeing holiday break to get players like Sean Couturier and Travis Sanheim some rest

It was a full-team morning skate for the Flyers in Voorhees in advance of the first game of a back-to-back set before the holiday break. A full-team skate as in Sean Couturier and Carter Hart were both in attendance Thursday.

There is no long-term concern as of now regarding Hart. As coach John Tortorella said, players get sick before noting, “It’s not off the charts, we’re not running around with our heads cut off.”

A reason for that is Sam Ersson is playing off-the-charts hockey between the pipes. The young Swedish netminder — a quick reminder, that he’s just 24 years old and still a rookie — will make his fifth straight start on Thursday night. He is 3-0-1 in his last four games with a 1.93 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.

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The one blip was a 3-2 overtime loss to the same Nashville Predators the Flyers will see at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday. Ersson thought he had a Filip Forsberg shot squeezed in the overtime session before the mustached star followed up his shot and knocked in the loose puck. The Flyers goalie said postgame, “It hurts. That overtime goal is one I feel like I want to have back.” He should be primed for a revenge game.

Ersson seems to relish the spotlight. He acknowledged that he has to stay in the moment but also added that he is having fun and feeling more and more confident in his game — and more and more removed from the poor start he had. And the fact that the Flyers (18-10-3) enter Thursday night riding a nine-game point streak certainly helps.

“It’s fun. The confidence is growing in our locker room. We’re having a lot of fun,” Ersson said after leading the team to a 3-2 overtime win against New Jersey on Tuesday. “But I think it’s important for us as a group to know how important it is to just stay in the moment, take it game by game, just not get ahead of ourselves here. Got a couple more games until the Christmas break, so kind of take those games and then just focus on that.”

The holiday break will be a key time for the Flyers. Aside from everyone getting away from the rink for a few days, and a bunch of guys heading back home to celebrate Christmas with family, Tortorella is looking at it as a time to recalibrate and get some rest for his big-minute guys.

The bench boss has mentioned needing to get his No. 1 minute-muncher — and No. 6 in the NHL — Travis Sanheim some rest. The defenseman is averaging more than 25 minutes a game. On Thursday, he added Couturier to the “must-get-rest” list.

“Played a lot of minutes, more minutes than I would have liked to, but I have. Trying to get him there,” Tortorella said about getting his veteran center to the break. “He’s just an old pro that knows how to play through soreness. He’s not hurt. He’s banged up, as all players are.

“Some guys make a bigger deal out of being banged up and sit out. He won’t. Again, part of it is, he’s just [back from] two years off and the amount of minutes he’s played in the first 30 [games] here, it’s a lot. So we’re just trying to give him some time. Sometimes we force him to stay off. Tommy [Alva, the Flyers head athletic trainer] will tell him you just have to stay off. Trying to get him here for another couple of days and then he’ll have a break.”

Couturier leads all forwards in ice time for the Flyers at 19 minutes, 49 seconds. He missed two years due to multiple back surgeries but has been slotted in at all strengths for the Flyers this season and his 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 29 games (0.72 ppg) show just how valuable he is.

Tortorella has been doing his best to keep track of the 31-year-old forward’s minutes, but when the team is doing well he has relied on the veteran.

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“I do try to monitor it, but we’re in so many close games,” Tortorella said. “We’re trying to win. And if I’m not putting the people in spots that best gives us an opportunity to win that game, I’m not treating the team fairly. And again with the developing — and it’s been a little bit easier for me because I think some of the young kids are part of us trying to win, they’re a big part.

“But with Coots, it’s hard for me not to put him in spots when we’re involved in such tight games. But I’m always cognizant of minutes. … As we get to the second half and get into the January-February part, I’m going to monitor that because I think that’s when it catches up with players sometimes. And that’s where I’ll have to adjust it a little bit along the way. But we’ll see. He’s handled himself so well. And I think knows how to play those minutes and keep himself fresh and we’re trying to help him with some of the time off. He knows how to do it, too.”

Marc Staal will draw into the lineup and Egor Zamula will be a healthy scratch. … Goalie Cal Petersen was recalled from Lehigh Valley on Thursday. Tortorella didn’t say who would back up Ersson against the Predators. … Thursday is the last day for fans to donate new, unwrapped toys for the Flyers’ toy drive.