Hart named NHL second star of the week

Carter Hart

PHILADELPHIA – Taking home an honor for rookie accomplishments over a month is one thing, but when you’re voted the second-best of all players in the NHL for a week, now that’s saying something.

Which is why Flyers freshman netminder Carter Hart has to be thrilled at being named NHL second star of the week, this just days after he was voted NHL rookie of the month for January.

Jack Roslovic of the Winnipeg Jets was selected first star of the week and the New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad took third-place honors.

Hart went 3-0-0 with a 2.27 goals-against average and .931 save percentage to help the Flyers (23-23-6, 52 points) register a perfect 4-0-0 week and extend the NHL’s longest active winning streak to seven games.

He began the week by making 31 saves in a 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets last Monday. On Thursday, he stopped 23 shots in a 3-2 overtime win over the Boston Bruins and capped the week with a career-high 40 save performance in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

In doing so, the 20-year-old native of Sherwood Park, Alta., extended his personal win streak to six games, becoming the sixth goaltender in NHL history to record a personal win streak as long before celebrating his 21st birthday and first since Montreal’s Carey Price in 2007-08 (7-0-0).

“It’s a good feeling,’’ said Hart, who was scheduled to start in goal for the Flyers in Monday night’s game against Vancouver. “Right now, we are playing really good hockey. I think it (the NHL award) is a byproduct of the level of hockey we’re playing.’’

Since joining the Flyers in mid-December, Hart has played in 15 games with a 9-5-1 record, a 2.58 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.

“Things are starting to click for us as we are finding more consistency in our game,’’ Hart said. “It’s really evident in our last couple games where we’ve really battled hard.

“We came back from a couple deficits in Boston, where we were down and then on Saturday we were down a couple times against Edmonton and we battled back. It just shows you the resiliency we have in this group.’’

The NHL’s three stars program began in the 2006-07 season.

Since then, Hart becomes only the Flyers’ second rookie to make the top three. Matt Read was the NHL’s third star for the week ending Nov. 20, 2011.

He is the sixth Flyers goaltender to earn a star of the week. The others: Brian Elliott, Ilya Bryzgalov, Martin Biron, Michael Leighton and Steve Mason.

>Short shots

Change in scoring on the Wayne Simmonds goal in the Edmonton game. Give James van Riemsdyk an assist and take one away from Jake Voracek. . .The Flyers entered the Vancouver game with 1,999 wins in franchise history. They were on pace to become the second-fastest team in NHL history to achieve that milestone, trailing only the Montreal Canadiens (provided it happens in the next 188 games). The Flyers have played 4,016 games. The Original Six teams and the number of games it took them to reach 2,000 wins: Montreal, 3,767; Boston, 4,205; Detroit, 4,613; Toronto, 4,696; New York Rangers, 4,707; Chicago, 4,851.

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About Wayne Fish 2385 Articles
Wayne Fish has been covering the Flyers since 1976, a stint which includes 18 Stanley Cup Finals, four Winter Olympics and numerous other international events.

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