The Flyers’ Backup Plan
It’s safe to say that the Flyers twenty-one-year-old Knight in shining armor and newly appointed franchise goaltender by the media- Carter Hart did not get the start to the 2019-2020 season he wanted.
Sure, he played lights out in the Flyers home opener against New Jersey by not only robbing Taylor Hall on an empty net one-timer feed that dropped jaws everywhere around the NHL but also winning his first shutout in his NHL career. However, he’s been chased out of his net twice so far this season while being forced to share the net with 34-year-old veteran Brian Elliot.
While that may have been an alarming option a week ago due to the history of injuries that have seemed to plague Elliot in his 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons with Philly, Brian “Moose” Elliot has shown Flyers fans that he is more than capable of holding down the fort while the kid has time to clear his head from the best seat in the house.
Elliot stopped 33 of 35 shots against a very offensively talented Vegas Golden Knights team Monday night and 23 of 24 shots Thursday in Chicago as Elliott regained the starting job after starting the season off 3–9–1, a 3.31 GAA and a save percentage of .885.
Elliott’s age and sour history with IR may haunt the Flyers management and coaching staff later this season, but as for now- Elliott is giving this team a platform to win and walk out with two points. All the while, Hart is not only healthy- but fresh and chomping at the bit to get back into the Flyers crease.
It will be interesting to see how head coach Alain Vigneault hands out the heavy workload against two successful playoff contenders. But if there’s one thing we should have learned by now, it’s that Brian Elliott can handle the challenge.
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Categorized:Flyers