Flyers goaltender Carter Hart is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team, general manager Danny Brière announced via a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
Hart's leave is due to personal reasons, and Brière's statement added that the club will have no further comment at this time.
Samuel Ersson, who's had the hot hand as Hart's backup and has increasingly seen a bigger share of the starts of late, was named the starting goaltender for Tuesday night by head coach John Tortorella after the team's morning skate in Voorhees.
Curiously, Hart wasn't on the ice for the skate, per PHLY's Charlie O'Connor, even though Tortorella did verify that the goaltender was healthy during his media availability.
Hart, 25, went into the season as the Flyers' starting goalie, and through 26 games (25 starts) has posed a .906 save percentage and a 2.80 goals against average. Since returning from issues stemming from a lingering undisclosed illness ahead of Christmas, however, Hart's game has been somewhat off.
The Flyers were still managing with him in the net, but leaky goals weren't uncommon, and neither was the team needing to erase a deficit.
In Saturday's 7-4 loss to Colorado, which was Hart's last start, he surrendered five goals on 15 shots and was pulled for the third period in favor of Ersson, despite the Flyers being faced with a back-to-back.
"I felt we were in the game," Tortorella said. "That’s why I switched the goalie."
To back up Ersson Tuesday night, Cal Petersen was recalled from Lehigh Valley, while forward Owen Tippet, who's been day-to-day with a lower-body injury, was placed on injured reserve.
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