Carter Hart is the real deal for Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers have their long awaited franchise goaltender in Carter Hart.
It is not breaking news in Philadelphia. However, the rest of the league and fans around the world were able to see what Carter Hart is made of during these playoffs. Despite the Flyers falling one game short of the Eastern Conference Finals, Hart proved he is the real deal.
He is the biggest reason the Flyers were even able to make it as far as they did. After sweeping the round robin stage, it became obvious that there were still holes in their game. Their top players were not scoring and their defense was falling apart at the most inopportune moments.
But Hart was there to bail them out more than you can count on two hands. He made big save after big save in just about every playoff game he was a part of. And he did it against some pretty potent offenses.
Let’s start with the numbers. He went 9-5 with a 2.23 GAA and a .926 SV%. The former ranked 14th in the league while the latter was 11th. So that might lead you to believe that he was not one of the best. But this was someone appearing in his first ever NHL playoffs.
Among goaltenders to make their playoff debuts this season, only Thatcher Demko and Elvis Merzlikins had better numbers. The latter only appeared in two games, though. Demko appeared in four games, the closest to Hart’s 14 games. So it’s not the fairest comparison, but it gives us a look at other younger goaltenders.
This was the first postseason for Jacob Markstrom as well, but he is eight years older than Hart. For a brief comparison, though, Hart’s numbers were better than the veteran goaltender in the same amount of games.
If we dive a little deeper, we can see just how valuable to the Flyers that Hart really was. According to Natural Stat Trick, Hart’s expected goals at even strength was at almost 29 (28.95). He actually gave up 22 at even strength. That gave him a 3.25 goals-saved-above-average. That was third best among goaltenders to have played a similar amount of games.
Hart was top five among all goaltenders when it came to stopping high danger chances. He was the best when looking at goaltenders who have played around the same amount. Out of 95 chances, he gave up just nine goals. He actually faced the second most high danger opportunities.
If we go to all strengths, Hart’s numbers obviously jump up a bit. He was expected to give up a total of 38.25 goals against, second most in the league. He only gave up 32, a GSAA of 4.67. Those numbers ranked third and fifth.
His high danger chances jump up to 121 and he gave up a total of 17 goals in those opportunities. That is still an impressive percentage for a young goaltender in his first playoffs.
The only blemish on his record game during a 5-0 loss to the Canadiens in the first round. Hart was pulled after giving up four goals, but all the blame cannot be on him. He carried the Flyers as far as could during these playoffs.
And that is a very promising sign for a team who will almost certainly be back in this position soon. They now know that they can count on Carter Hart, even in the biggest moments.