Carter Has Been The Hart of the Flyers

Carter Hart made his debut for the Flyers on December 18, 2018. He made 20 saves on 22 shots, backstopping the team to a 3-2 win. He was just 20-years-old at the time. That made him the youngest Flyers goaltender to win in his NHL debut.

Hart appeared in 31 games that season, going 16-13-1. He posted a 2.83 GAA and a .917 SV%. Not otherworldly numbers, but pretty good for a young goaltender in his first season.

He became a permanent fixture on the roster from there, jumping to 43 games the following season. He posted a 24-13-3 record, lowering his GAA to 2.42 while his SV% slightly dipped to .914. Hart also recorded his first NHL shutout that season as well. He was proving that he could be the franchise goaltender the Flyers were looking for.

And then the pandemic shortened season happened. Hart admitted that the mental side of his game took a toll as players were mostly isolated from their teammates, especially when on the road. He also dealt with an MCL sprain in his knee. His GAA skyrocketed to 3.67 while his GAA nosedived to .877. Both were, both at the time and now, the worst of his career.

He showed improvement the following year, though would end up having another MCL sprain that would end his season. He appeared in the most games of his career (45) and jumped back up to a .905 SV% while his GAA rebounded a bit to 3.16. It wasn’t close to the numbers he was putting up in his first two seasons, but it was a sign that he was finding his game again. It also didn’t help having a defense in front of him that forced him to have to be at his best.

That brings us to the current season. New head coach John Tortorella spoke about how the team needed to be better defensively in front of Hart. They were giving up too many chances which put the young goaltender under siege most nights.