All eyes on Jones as Hart can only look ahead to next start
The eye infection that cost Carter Hart a start Monday is lingering longer than the Flyers had hoped. A day after hinting that Hart would be available Tuesday, Mike Yeo was forced instead to start Martin Jones against the visiting St. Louis Blues.
“We’re just being safe,” Yeo said before the game. “Just being sure.”
Though Hart had missed time earlier this season with similar trouble, Yeo has yet to project concern.
“He skated (Tuesday) morning,” the coach said. “But he still has some swelling there which is sort of impairing his vision, which, obviously, is pretty tough as a goalie.”
Hart has had a rough recent stretch, allowing 13 goals over his previous three starts, all losses. That included a 5-4 overtime defeat when the host Penguins scored the final three goals.
Yeo is confident Hart will start the Flyers’ next game, Saturday afternoon against visiting Washington.
“We’re obviously hopeful that he can play,” he said. “I would think that would be the case.”
••• When Yeo was fired by the Blues in November of 2018, he was replaced by his assistant, Craig Berube, who would coach them to their only Stanley Cup.
Berube, however, maintains a strong respect for his former boss.
“He’s a very smart coach, very good guy and I learned a lot from him, just being around him,” Berube told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “How he worked the details of the game, a very
detailed guy. How he approached the game. You always take things from a lot of different people. Little things here and there. You use ’em down the road, or use ’em as you go along coaching.
“(Replacing him) was a tough situation at the time. It really was.”
•••
With the Flyers on a five-game losing streak, Yeo was in no mood to remain patient. Instead, he nudged left wing Issac Ratcliffe up to the top line with Claude Giroux and Cam Atkinson.
The 6-foot-6 Ratcliffe had appeared in seven games, scoring a goal Feb. 12 in Detroit.
“You do see how effective he’s been on the fourth line, being physical and generating momentum,” Yeo said. “But he is also a big body that has some hands and has a background and a history of putting points on
the board. I don’t think we’re at the point where we know where he is going to quite fit in the lineup. But he has just earned that chance to play up there.”
Oskar Lindblom slipped to the second line, joining Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny. James van Riemsdyk, Gerry Mayhew and Morgan Frost would make up the third line. Max Willman slid to the fourth line with Patrick Brown and Zack MacEwen.
Connor Bunnaman was recalled from Lehigh Valley, to play in case of an emergency.
•••
With the Flyers tormented all season by injury, Frost has seen multiple opportunities to live up to his hype as a star in waiting.
He has had a total of one assist in his last 14 games and has not scored a goal since Dec. 30.
“The game in Pittsburgh was not good for me,” said
Frost of the Feb. 15 meltdown. “But the last few games, despite not getting on the score sheet, I think I am doing a lot of the right things. I am trying to work as hard as I can and stay responsible defensively, doing the little things. Hopefully, the offense will come after that.”
••• Despite their seasonlong struggles, the Flyers had the Blues’ attention.
“The way we look at it, they have played a lot of tight games lately,” said defenseman Torey Krug after a morning skate. “So it’s not like they are out there and are just playing and getting blown out. Most of their games have been one-goal games as of late. We realize they have some talent in that locker room.
“They are really good off the rush, and in this league, if you are sleeping against anyone, you are going to pay for it.”