Philadelphia Flyers: Carter Hart looks right at home in the postseason

In his first taste of the NHL Playoffs, Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart is playing like a 10 year veteran.

We all know the story by now. The Philadelphia Flyers and goaltenders are just two things that do not go together. At least, they haven’t for the past 20+ years or so since Ron Hextall was a mainstay between the pipes. Since then? Forget about it. If you love mediocre goaltending, Philadelphia has been the place for you.

However, things are finally beginning to change. The craziest thing about it is it all began once again with Hextall. This time instead of between the pipes, Hexy made his impact for the Philadelphia Flyers in the front office, selecting the franchise’s savior, Carter Hart in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft. While things didn’t end so well for Hextall as the Flyers GM and not everything he did was perfect, it seems he was right on the money with this pick.

Since making his debut at 20 years old back in the 2018-19 season, Hart has stabilized the crease for the Orange and Black. Across two seasons, Hart has a record of 40-26-4 in 74 games (70 starts) to go with a 2.59 goals against average and a .915 SV%. Essentially, you would not know how young this guy is just from watching him play. His goals against average from this season of 2.42 was the best in all of hockey for goaltenders that made at least 40 starts. Simply put, the future is incredibly bright.

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To be fair, you can say the same thing about the present, because now at 22 years of age Hart looks like a ten year vet. In his first eight career playoff games, the young goalie has been unreal going 6-2 with a 1.71 GAA and a .943 SV%. He led the Philadelphia Flyers to their first playoff series win since 2012, out dueling his childhood idol Carey Price in six games. Hart also became the second youngest player of all time to post consecutive postseason shutouts.

As the Flyers get ready to drop the puck for their second round series with the New York Islanders, there is reason for optimism. When you have a player like Hart in net, you have the chance to win every single time you take the ice. In that series with the Canadiens, at times the Flyers were outplayed and failed to find the back of the net. Ultimately, it did not matter in the end as the play of their goaltender was able to propel them past the pesky Habs.

Even if the Flyers come up short this year, the future is so bright. Simply getting their young roster the postseason experience they are gaining right now could play huge dividends down the road. There is no reason to believe this is a one time thing with Hart leading the Flyers on a nice run in the playoffs. At such a young age, it is reasonable to think he could be between the pipes in Philadelphia for the next 10-15 years.

If that does end up being the case; considering what he is already accomplishing at such a young age, the sky appears to be the limit.