Gordon keeps it simple before Flyers coaching debut vs. Red Wings

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Scott Gordon will coach his first game with the Philadelphia Flyers against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, NBCSP, FS-D, NHL.TV).

Gordon, who had been the coach at Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, was hired Monday, replacing Dave Hakstol.
Gordon met with the players prior to their morning skate at Virtua Center Skate Zone and said he wants to keep things as simple for them as possible.
"I don't want to complicate things right now and overload them with changes that might not be necessary," Gordon said. "I want to get a feel of what's going on live. ... I was encouraged by the things the guys had to say. We just have to find a way to right the ship.
"I don't think anybody performs well when there's forced pressure. I think all players put pressure on themselves to go out and perform well. We can't get past the next shift. We go out and play that shift and play it to the best of our ability. Can't worry about Thursday's game, can't worry about Saturday's game. Just got to worry about tonight and take it one shift at a time."
Philadelphia has lost four straight games (0-3-1) and is 3-8-3 in its past 14 games. The Flyers (12-15-4) are last in the Metropolitan Division with 28 points, eight behind the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins.
"We just changed a couple things," forward Wayne Simmonds said. "Obviously him coming in this morning and us playing a game tonight, I don't think you can change everything overnight, but you can change a few things and I think we did that."

One big change will be rookie goalie Carter Hart, 20, making his NHL debut. Hart will be the sixth goalie to start a game for the Flyers this season; Philadelphia is the first NHL team to use six starters in the first 35 games of a season.
Hart allowed three goals or more eight times in his first 12 games playing for Gordon with Lehigh Valley, but he's 4-1-0 with a 1.82 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage in his past five AHL games, and was recalled Monday.
"The deficiencies in his game have improved and he's really starting to be a pro," Gordon said. "If this is the right time or not who knows. I know from how he performed in the past five games he's a better goalie than he was before that."