Make no mistake, Hartnell is well-compensated for his job. But few of his teammates are clamoring to take over his role as the Flyers' resident pest in the crease.
Last night, Hartnell's desire to do the dirty work was the reason the Flyers bumped their season-high winning streak to four games. Hartnell scored twice and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 28 shots in net as the Flyers topped the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2, at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers are now 13-0-3 in their last 16 games against Carolina.
With Danny Briere out of the lineup serving his three-game suspension, Jeff Carter flawlessly moved up to play with Hartnell and Ville Leino. The trio's chemistry was evident in the game's first goal, when they found each other with back-to-back-to-back blind backhand passes before Hartnell knocked in his third goal of the season.
"I think the main theme with everyone is pretty similar," Hartnell said. "We don't change things up from line to line. We try to play relentless Flyers hockey, get it in, cycle, change sides, up to the point, and get to the net."
Hartnell seems to have rediscovered his home in front of the net, a place that seemed foreign to him for most of last season. Last night, he picked up his first goal less than 3 feet from 'Canes goaltender Justin Peters.
He was sniffing for his sixth career hat trick in the third period after redirecting Kimmo Timonen's point shot to make it 3-1.
"I don't know if it takes a certain person or player to go there, but a lot of people don't want to pay the price, taking cross-checks and things like that to get there," Hartnell said. "But that's where goals are scored. If you look around the whole league, that's where goals are scored with rebounds, tips and shots.
"For me to be effective, that's where I score most of my goals. It results in a lot of ice bags on my lower back."
