Upcoming Road Trip Will Be Important Test For Flyers, Carter Hart

The Philadelphia Flyers’ next road trip will be a good measuring point for the young netminder and the entire team.

Overall, Carter Hart has been very reliable for the Philadelphia Flyers this season. The 21-year-old sits fifth among all NHL goaltenders in Goals Against Average (GAA) with 2.27 and his .916 save percentage through 25 games is nothing to scoff at, either. All that’s held that’s him back from being among’s the league’s best in every goaltending statistic this season have been his poor performances on the road, which is why this upcoming trip will not only be huge for the former Everett Silvertip but the Flyers team as a whole.

Out of all NHL netminders who have played at least 300 minutes of Time on Ice this year at 5-on-5 with Score and Venue Adjusted, Hart ranks last in SV% (.866) and High Danger Save Percentage (.731) while sitting second to last in GAA (3.57), Goals Saved Above Average (-9.43), and third from last in High Danger Goals Allowed per 60 Minutes  (1.99) and High Danger Goals Saved Above Average (-4.52), per Natural Stat Trick. Those numbers can easily be described as; not ideal.

Part of the reason as to why Hart’s struggled so much away from the Wells Fargo Center is that the Flyers haven’t been as effective defensively on the road, surrendering more shots, High Danger, and total Scoring Chances in one less game than they do at home at 5v5 w/S&V. Still, you’d like to see your starting goaltender come up with a couple more saves while in the visiting net, even with the lower amount of experience Hart has at this level.

Philadelphia won’t find themselves back at the Farg until January 8th, playing in six-straight road games starting on Saturday against the San Jose Sharks. While they won’t be playing against the stiffest of competition, as only half of the squads they’ll face are in a playoff position at this moment, I think that’s actually a good thing, especially since they start the trip facing the inferior opponents.

It should allow both the team and Hart to gain some confidence if they’re able to take care of business as they enter cities like Vegas, Arizona, and Carolina to round out the road tour. Having a confident team and goaltender is never a bad thing, and if the Flyers can get a few W’s out of the former half of this trek, the idea is that they’ll play better against the tougher opponents and it’ll have a snowball effect as the season goes along.

To put it simply: As good as the Flyers and Hart have been at home, they have to establish more consistent efforts away from the City of Brotherly to be a more successful squad. Philly likely won’t have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs if they end up making it, and splitting this six-game tour would be a great start in becoming a better all-around team and, in Hart’s case, goalie on the road.