Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Déjà vu: Flyers blank Buffalo 3-0 again
Flyers coach Alain Vigneault has been there and done that with goaltenders, winning with 42 of them, from young to old over 18 NHL seasons.
Mining shutouts in back-to-back games is special. Especially with the erratic Carter Hart getting the clean sheet in the getaway, a 3-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres Sunday at KeyBank Center.
Everyone knows what to expect from Brian Elliott, who blanked the Sabres Saturday, as well as earlier in the season. He has four career shutouts of Buffalo and at 35 years old, is as steady as it gets.
Getting a shutout from the 22-year-old Hart, who buried himself last week in Lake Tahoe, is Ripley’s Believe it or Not stuff, considering.
Hart was humiliated in a 7-3 loss to the Boston Bruins in the Outdoor Challenge last Sunday. Elliott replaced him after the sixth goal.
With critics questioning the thought of starting Hart over Elliott Sunday, Vigneault knew better. Those six days off made Hart reset.
“There was no doubt in my mind and I’m sure there was no doubt in his teammates’ minds that he would have a good game tonight,” Vigneault said. “He had an excellent game. I think thought we played fairly well in front of him in the first and second period. And when he had to make some saves, he made some saves. He had a real solid performance for us.”
Hart stopped 28 shots Sunday, two with his face mask and one somewhere in his lower body. Granted, the Sabres (6-10-3-15) are in trouble. Vigneault’s counterpart, Ralph Krueger, probably should be thinking about what he’s going to do if the slide continues. The Sabres are a league-worst 2-6-1 in February with three straight losses and two high-priced talents – Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner – who seem to be losing interest.
The Flyers (11-4-3-25) are on the uptick, having won three straight games entering a two-game series beginning Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
Sean Couturier, Michael Raffl and James van Riemsdyk scored in the second period to basically seal the decision.
Hart did the rest. He was where he needed to be. As the game wore on, he got better dealing with the rebounds.
“I think the biggest thing for me is just finding a way to have more fun at the rink,” Hart said. “This year has obviously been difficult for everybody with COVID and restrictions, not being able to see people and all that. I think being able to find different ways to stay connected and have more fun at the rink and share some laughs a little bit makes it easier coming to the rink every day.”
Truth be told, that’s what Vigneault saw. He’s just about seen it all through the years.
“You’re going to have peaks and valleys in the season and in your career,” Vigneault said. “Let’s never forget that Carter’s a very young goaltender. I see every game as a positive sign for him, about him building his game and getting better. That’s what he’s doing.”
Whoever the goaltender is, it’s going to be next to impossible shutting out Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins. Hart, nonetheless has a plan. “Just getting back to basics, trusting my game, trusting what I’ve built with all the work I’ve done and having fun competing,” Hart said. “The last practice, I was competing on every puck and I think that really helps transitioning into games.”