Under pressure: No shortage of Hart
21-year-old is showing the franchise a glimpse into a possibly promising hope
Bernie Parent endured the blast furnace pressure of playoff hockey at an early age, as did Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall.
History tells us all three would go on to greatness, albeit shorter stints for Hextall (injuries, trades, etc.) and Lindbergh (a tragic, fatal car accident).
The narrative of these three goaltenders — considered by most as the greatest in Flyers’ history — provide a glimpse of what could be in store for the franchise’s next promising hope, Carter Hart.
Starting this postseason at age 21 (he turned 22 on Aug. 13), Hart has positioned himself ahead of the curve of the three aforementioned netminders.
His first crack at the playoffs comes after just his first full regular season in the NHL and through 13 games (prior to Saturday night’s Game 7 vs. the Islanders) his numbers were stellar: 9-4 record, 2.17 goals-against average, .929 save percentage.
No one is vowing Hart will measure up to icons like Parent and Hextall but most agree the potential is there.
It’s not the just the brilliance of his mechanics, the technical soundness of his game.
What seems to impress his teammates the most is the way he keeps cool under fire. He can let in a bad goal or two but quickly shake it off.
Late in Tuesday night’s Game 5, he allowed a couple goals that coaches often refer to as “he’d like to have back.’’ Then he returns around and comes up with a few sensational stops in overtime to allow the Flyers to stay alive until a Scott Laughton goal.
That mental toughness might be the one ingredient missing from a lot of the Flyers’ goaltenders since the late ’80s.
In other words, Flyers fans have been waiting a long time for a possible savior like this to come down the pike.
“There’s no doubt that Carter’s been a huge part of our team,’’ Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said Friday. “We have a young man there that’s very humble, works extremely hard and that has played some big games while we’re in this bubble from the round robin to our first series against Montreal to obviously these last games against Islanders.
“Like last [Thursday] night, he was our best player. He gave us a chance to win. I thought in the overtime we played our best hockey in overtime. Carter’s a young man that’s growing with every experience he’s being given. We need him to continue to play well.’’
The key words there are “growing with every experience he’s being given.’’
Confidence in a goaltender by teammates can’t be overestimated. When a goalie is playing well, the whole team picks up on it and seems to play with better energy, more purpose.
When Parent shut out the Boston Bruins in the 1974 Stanley Cup-clinching Game 6, 1-0, it set the standard for the franchise. It will take a lot to top that one but Hart appears to have that potential, as he showed in back-to-back shutouts against Montreal in the first round.
Scott Laughton likes what he sees so far.
“I think he’s been good for us all year,’’ Laughton said. “I don’t think anything has really changed in his game. We trust him back there. He’s such a good pro. I think guys have said it all along. He really takes care of himself and makes sure he’s ready.
“We have all the belief in him back there. He makes a ton of big saves for our group and gives us momentum throughout a game. We trust him back there.’’