Remember in Batman how Commissioner Gordon used to shine that big bat signal in the sky to summon Batman to his office? In this case, it wasn’t a bat signal, it was a Phantoms logo and it wasn’t Commissioner Gordon doing the summoning, it was coach Gordon – Scott Gordon – being alerted to trouble in Philadelphia. And oh dear, Gordon brought his sidekick Carter Hart (too bad his first name isn’t Robin) with him for the trip down the turnpike to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher, who sent up the Phantom signal, was doing a good job fighting off the bad guys in Philadelphia. Bof. Pow. Bang. Just like that, Fletcher took out coach Dave Hakstol, whose team had gone on a four-game crime spree with losses in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver and had been outscored 22-8 during the stretch.

It appears that Hakstol’s real crime was asking his boss for immunity from being fired even though the team had gone to Canada and stunk up the place. That discussion was on Monday morning and when Fletcher gave Hakstol an honest answer about how upset he was with what he had seen from the team, the two quickly decided to part ways, effective immediately.

Former Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon, who was in Philadelphia because of an injury to backup Anthony Stolarz, who was in Philadelphia because of an injury to Brian Elliott, is back at Lehigh Valley after a weak showing in the Flyers loss in Vancouver. It’s unclear when Hart will make his NHL debut since goalie Michal Neuvirth returned to practice Monday afternoon after leaving the team for the birth of his daughter on Saturday. Rest assured though that the Flyers don’t want Hart picking up a bunch of bench time being an NHL spectator and it’s likely that he’ll get some ice time while he’s with the team.

While Hart hasn’t been tearing up the AHL, he has played really well lately and is starting to show that he truly belongs. It apparently was enough of a performance to convince Fletcher and the Flyers that he should be in Philadelphia even though the team’s defense has been porous at best and he’s likely to be facing a tough task when he goes between the pipes for his NHL debut.

Overall, Hart is 9-5-2 with the Phantoms and in 17 games has a 3.05 goals against average and a .901 save percentage in his first AHL stint. The convincing part is that in his last five games, Hart is 4-1 with a 1.82 GAA and a .939 save percentage. He also notched his first professional shutout on Dec. 7 as a member of the Phantoms.

CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER ... Fletcher was insistent that he had zero intention of firing Hakstol on Monday, but did admit that the disappointing loss in Calgary last Wednesday had made him realize that he wasn’t going to keep Hakstol on long-term. When Hakstol asked for reassurance about his job security, push came to shove and the coach was packing his things. In fact, things happened so quickly that Gordon wasn’t with the team for their afternoon practice.

THE RUMOR MILL ... So, just how long will Gordon stick in Philadelphia? According to Fletcher, his time with the Flyers is an official audition, as the GM mentioned Gordon as a candidate for the job on a permanent basis. Gordon coached the Islanders from 2008-2010, but that didn’t exactly go well. Joel Quenneville has been mentioned as a candidate for as long as anybody can remember, but Fletcher slowed the rumor mill when he was asked about the former Blackhawks coach during his Monday press conference, stating “I haven’t talked to Joel in probably over two years.”

MEANWHILE AT THE PPL CENTER ... Gordon’s assistant with the Phantoms, Kerry Huffman, was named the “acting” coach – something just below interim – until the Flyers figure out what they’re going to do to fill the spot at least until Gordon would return from Philadelphia. It’s likely that Huffman will be behind the bench Wednesday night when the Phantoms return home against the Hershey Bears.