Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Eight is enough as Pen’s snap Hart’s streak
PHILADELPHIA >> These were the Pittsburgh Penguins, not the Anaheim Ducks or the Los Angeles Kings, who have a reputation for going quietly.
This was a lineup with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, not Disney on Ice with Goofy and Daffy or whoever they skate with out there in Cali.
No matter how you spun goaltender Carter Hart’s pursuit of a ninth straight victory before the age of 21, which while not in the Martin Brodeur class of standards for most goalie wins, shutouts and so on, it would have been every bit as unprecedented in the long history of the NHL.
It would have been something for Hart and the Flyers to build on because the Penguins are a serious step up in competition. Make that three steps up. In the time it takes to say, sorry, not on our watch, the Penguins interrupted that goaltender fantasy. Dumped it on the ice and stomped on it in a 4-1 decision while a crowd braving the snowstorm booed.
Hart looked like a 19-year-old rookie on the first goal as he totally lost track of the puck. Picture the naked bootleg in football where the quarterback fakes the handoff, hides the ball with his hip and rolls the other way. That’s what happened to Hart and a small pile of players.
While the pack of Flyers and Penguins followed the puck behind the net, Pens forward Bryan Rust reversed it off the glass where Crosby was trailing. With Hart’s back turned, Crosby flipped into ever so easily into the net to give the Penguins a 1-0 advantage at 8:19.
That’s goal No. 435 for Crosby. And yeah, it seems like he’s scored them all against the Flyers. But that’s another story for another night.
Hart didn’t know what happened until he watched the replay on the big screen. Even then he appeared puzzled, frazzled. This is a young man who gets into his crouch on faceoffs on the other end of the ice.
“We kind of have dark stands,” Hart said. “When it goes up on the glass it’s kind of hard to see. I lost it in the air. I think everybody else did, too. The only guy who knew where it was, was Crosby.”
The second goal allowed by Carter was much more savable, even if the goalkeeper was slightly screened when Nick Bjugstad wristed one past his glove hand on a two-on-one rush with 12:56 left in the second period.
That shot had save written on it, and it temporarily sucked the life out of the Flyers. Hart was resolute when it was suggested the puck changed directions.
“I’ll look at the replay tomorrow,” Carter said. “But still a stoppable puck, for sure.”
The Flyers weren’t finished. They got after Penguins goalie Matt Murray, throwing everything at him but Gritty, and only because the mascot was in the upper, upper netherworld of the building beating a metal can to stoke “Let’s go Flyers” cheers.
The Flyers scored a goal, by Nolan Patrick, only to have it not count because an official whistled play dead even though the puck clearly evaded the gloved grasp of Murray. That would have gotten the Flyers within 2-1 with a chunk of the second period remaining.
The Flyers outshot the Penguins, 28-8, in the second period. That’s the most rubber they’ve put on goal in one period in the history of the franchise. Putting it in the net, of course, was next to impossible.
The Penguins grabbed a 3-0 lead on Jake Guentzel’s wraparound, as he stuffed the puck between Hart’s pads.
For the Flyers, Jake Voracek averted the shutout with 4:34 left on the power play.
There wasn’t much left to do but assess the way Hart battled the Penguins, who were struggling until, well, they played the Flyers.
“They’ve got some skilled players,” Hart said. “I thought their goalie played really well and kept them in the game.”
Eight straight victories before the age of 21, as Hart recorded, is anything but a guarantee of greatness or hockey immortality. In the case of Jocelyn Thibault, who did it in 1995, it was a barometer of longevity.
Thibault played 16 NHL seasons, compiling a record of 238-238 with six less than remarkable teams, the bulk of his tour with the Montreal Canadiens (199599) and the Chicago Blackhawks (1999-2004).
When Hart’s career is all said and done, hopefully he accomplishes much more than his predecessor. Hopefully he isn’t inextricably tied to Thibault in age, wins and losses.
The Flyers have their fingers crossed that Hart can be their Marc-Andre Flurry, Andrei Vasilevskly or Pekka Rinne.
You could do a lot worse than Murray as a measuring stick, although he’s in just his fourth NHL season. Murray was one save away from his fourth shutout, stopping 50 shots.
It’s early to draw conclusions from Hart’s first start against the hated Penguins. He didn’t keep it together long enough to give the Flyers a enough of chance. He was more Thibault than Brodeur.
But it’s early. And when it comes to goaltending, we all know the Flyers can do a lot worse.