Hart’s 37 Saves Keeps Flyers Moving Up

Philadelphia is racking up points at lightning speed. In their last 14 games, they’re 12-1-1. Just to make things difficult, the one regulation loss came to Pittsburgh, a team now six points ahead of them in the hunt.

Carter Hart is willing his team to victory night in and night out, continuing his sudden Calder push with a home-and-home sweep of Detroit. Ask him about trophies, and it’s all about those next two points to him.

Hart allowed a career high five goals to get by during the Saturday afternoon win. He bounced back the next night and carried an evidently sleepy team to another win.

Goaltending is just that crucial in the NHL— you need a guy who can steal a game when your team isn’t at its sharpest. The offense did just enough, and Hart kept them in it long enough to survive.

Talking offense, three goals looks decent on the scoreboard, but they weren’t pretty.

Oskar Lindblom opened the scoring, but it was really a pass from Sean Couturier that pinballed around skates and into the net. Ivan Provorov scored from a point shot that managed to go through untouched.

https://twitter.com/nbcsphilly/status/1097303644414840833?s=21

The empty netter came from a stumbling Lindblom, who was able to find the net while being tripped from behind.

Anthony Mantha had to answer the bell early when Wayne Simmonds took revenge for his captain. It seemed to only fuel Mantha’s offense, as he was a danger every shift. He had about four golden opportunities, but couldn’t convert.

Undrafted defenseman Philippe Myers made his NHL debut, starting with a lonely warm-up lap. He made a great pinch in the offensive zone that led directly to Provorov’s eventual game winner. As the seventh dressed defenseman, he logged 9:53 of ice time.

The only blemish on one of Hart’s finest professional outings was a puck that just about found its own way into open space for Detroit’s Darren Helm. After the initial save, the puck bounced around the midsections of players jostling in the crease. It happened to land behind Hart, where Helm had a tap-in goal.

Also, if you weren’t keeping track:

679 WINS UNTIL CARTER HART PASSES MARTIN BRODEUR FOR FIRST PLACE IN NHL HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!

— Carter Hart Countdown (@HartCountdown) February 18, 2019

Philadelphia hosts Tampa Bay on Tuesday night. With Cam Talbot unavailable until Thursday at the earliest (visa issues), Brian Elliott could make his return.