After starting the season in the AHL with the Phantoms, it hasn't taken Carter Hart very long to make an impact on the Flyers. Now, in just his first full month in the NHL, playing the game's toughest position, Hart has been named the league's top rookie for January.
More importantly, Hart has helped the Flyers get back on track.
Winners of six straight — five of those coming with Hart in net — the Flyers have climbed out of the NHL's basement, but still have a long way to go before getting back into the playoff contention. In his nine starts last month, Hart was 6-2-1 with a .931 save percentage and a 2.33 goals-against average. Overall on the season, since first being called up on December 16, Hart is 8-5-1 with a .922 save percentage and a 2.48 GAA in 14 appearances.
That becomes even more impressive when you remember that Hart, 20, still can't celebrate any of those wins with an ice cold beer.
During the club's six-game win streak, Hart has backstopped the Flyers to five of those wins, recording a 2.38 GAA and .930 save percentage since his start on Jan. 14. His five consecutive victories made him just the 10th different goaltender in NHL history to record a personal win streak of five or more games before celebrating his 21st birthday (and first since Carey Price from March 20 - April 5, 2008).
Below is a breakdown of the streak:
JAN. 14 vs. MIN (W 7-4: 34 saves)
JAN. 16 vs. BOS (W 4-3: 39 saves)
JAN. 19 at MTL (W 5-2: 33 saves)
JAN. 28 vs. WPG (W 3-1: 31 saves)
JAN. 31 at BOS (OTW 3-2: 23 saves)Not only among rookies, Hart tied for third among all goaltenders in wins (6) and T-7th in save percentage (.931) among netminders to play at least five games on the month. [nhl.com]
While this may be Hart's first piece of NHL hardware, it's almost certainly not going to be his last.
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