Hart Adjusting to AHL With Phantoms
ALLENTOWN, PA - All eyes are on Lehigh Valley Phantoms goaltender Carter Hart this year. The Philadelphia Flyers' second round selection in 2016 NHL Draft has turned pro, and is in his first season with the club's AHL affiliate.
With all the hype surrounding Hart - his dominance in Canada's junior hockey in the WHL, two-time Team Canada WJC-U20 goaltender, first goalie taken in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, etc - perhaps his stat line after the opening month of his rookie season should remind everyone that with the excitement and expectations comes the reality that making the jump from the amateur to pro game isn't an overnight transition.
"It's not that you expect it, but you're not surprised when it happens," Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon said when asked if Hart's early-season struggles are all part of the adjustment process.
Taking a quick look back through some recent prospect goalies that struggled early in their rookie year that panned out alright, how about Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy?
On the Syracuse Crunch to begin the 2014-15 season, Vasilevskiy's first six AHL starts produced just one win despite taking three of the six games to overtime. He allowed 20 goals in those six contests. The Phantoms own Alex Lyon allowed 10 goals on 69 shots in his first two AHL starts in October of the 2016-17 season.
"The one thing about our team - we are going to score. It's just a question of making timely saves some nights," Gordon said, adding, "Some nights, it's a lot of saves and some nights you sit in a rocking chair. We're thrilled that he's here. Things are going to get better for him too."
Lehigh Valley's up-tempo speed and skill game tends to put more stress on the defense and goaltending. If the team isn't making smart decisions with the puck - especially on the breakout in defensive and neutral zones - it often leads to turnovers, quick transitions against and odd-man rushes against.
ROCKY BEGINNING
After a solid pro debut back on opening night on October 6 against Bridgeport (31 saves on 34 shots), Hart was given the start the following Friday in the team's second game of the season against Springfield. After four goals on 16 shots in 27:19 in an all-around flat effort from the entire team, Gordon pulled Hart and replaced him with Anthony Stolarz in an attempt to spark some life into his team.
It didn't work, and the team lost 7-0.
A week later, Hart was back in net for a Friday night match with rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and the Penguins scored their fifth goal on Hart with just over a minute left to pin another loss on Lehigh Valley and the highly-touted rookie goaltender. Just 28 saves on 33 shots against.
"The game is eventually going to get easier for him," Gordon said of Hart after the loss to the Penguins earlier this month. "Carter made some great saves too. It's not -- the end result isn't what we want but as long as he continues to work at it and get better we're not going to complain."
Less than 48 hours later and with the team playing their third game in three days, Gordon opted to go back to Hart Sunday in Bridgeport - an interesting decision considering Hart had just played Friday, Alex Lyon returned to game action the previous night in the rematch against the Penguins and Anthony Stolarz hadn't played since the previous week.
The Phantoms jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Bridgeport battled their way back and took a lead before Lehigh Valley was able to force overtime and an eventual shootout before squandering the second standings point to the Sound Tigers.
How was Hart? Certainly more dialed in for the Sunday start and overall more consistent in tracking the puck.
Gordon wasn't overly impressed or displeased with Hart's performance Sunday.
"I think the big save was in overtime to give us a chance to be able to go back down and get to the shootout," Gordon said of Hart's play. "I thought the first half of the game he didn't have anything. And then at that point, he got some action on their power plays - two bad penalties we shouldn't be taking."
The Phantoms' bench boss seemed more frustrated with his team's lack of discipline more than anything else.
Only the opening goal Hart allowed - a shot from the left wing that went under his arm and into the net - could be considered one he'd like to have back. The other two came on broken plays/tipped pucks in front on power plays, and his only shootout goal against was to AHL veteran sniper Chris Bourque.
TURNING THE CORNER?
Hart made his fifth start in the team's eighth game of the season last weekend in Binghamton on Saturday night. Both himself and the team got better as the game went along in a Phantoms' 5-2 win. While the end result suggests a high-scoring game, it was a 1-1 tie late into the second period before the Phantoms took the lead and pulled away in the third.
"I felt good. I thought we played really well tonight, and stepped things up there in the third period," Hart told Inside AHL Hockey in Binghamton after the game. "They were coming hard in the third and we just had to bear down."
And bear down is exactly what Hart did after kicking a rebound into the slot in the first period and surrending the game's first goal 5:53 into the contest. He finished the game with 29 saves on 31 shots and appeared to have a sense of relief leaving him as he spoke after the win.
A particular save stood out in the second period, as Devils leading scorer Nick Lappin took a centering feed behind the defense and fired a point blank shot on Hart. The rookie goalie turned it aside and kept the game tied at 1-1.
"It was a big glove save he made off the rush that I thought was huge," Gordon said after the game. "It was a hard first period because there was a lot of scrambly action in front of him, so there weren't a whole lot of clean saves for him to make with good vision and timing and all that. It was good to see him make that timely save in the second period, and I thought he was sharp the whole game from that point on."
Hart said he just followed the play, and read the guy coming in front.
"Just going with the flow," he added when asked about that play on Lappin in the middle frame.
How is he feeling a month into his pro career after being pulled in his second start and having some early-season growing pains? Certainly much better after his first win since opening night.
"Yeah I feel fine," a relieved Hart told Inside AHL Hockey, downplaying his early-season struggles. "Things are going well right now and we're playing good hockey. I think we just have to approach things one game at a time."
Moving forward, it seems that the three-goalie rotation will see Hart earn the first start of the game schedule and Stolarz and Lyon will share starts as the second goalie. While it's possible that a 3-in-3 weekend could see each goalie play a game, it's obvious that Hart will be given his fair share of starts as the 20-year-old needs to develop and adjust to the speed and skill of the pro game.
"For sure, I'm seeing the puck a lot better now. And starting to get comfortable," Hart said, adding, "More comfortable in the net and even handling the puck and all those little details. I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable and just have keep things rolling."
Thinking less and playing more?
"Exactly, yes. Exactly!"
