A real problem involving Carter Hart has emerged right after Game 4
Photo credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images
Carter Hart just made the kind of history no goalie wants. But the stat making the rounds might be hiding something much bigger.
Hart became the first goalie in NHL history to allow four or more goals in each of the first four games of a Stanley Cup Final.
ESPN surfaced the number during the Game 4 broadcast and it spread fast.
The immediate reaction has been predictable. Pull him, start Adin Hill, make a change before Game 5 on Thursday in Raleigh.
That conversation is too small. John Tortorella confirmed during this series that his time behind the Vegas bench ends in late June, win or lose.
He and Kelly McCrimmon agreed to that exact timeline when Tortorella took over in late March after Bruce Cassidy was fired.
The only coach betting on him is leaving
Tortorella is the entire reason Hart is here. He coached Hart in Philadelphia, handed him the net over Hill, and publicly defended him through hostile crowds and chants in Carolina.
Hart's second chance in the NHL exists because one coach vouched for him when nobody else would.
When Tortorella walks, the next coach inherits a goaltending situation with zero loyalty attached.
Hill went 10-9-6 with an .871 save percentage this regular season, so the alternative is far from inspiring.
But a new voice behind the bench carries no obligation to keep Hart as the starter.
Context the historic number won't carry
Hart entered this Final with a 2.22 GAA and .922 save percentage across three dominant rounds.
He was a legitimate Conn Smythe candidate two weeks ago.
This series has been historically chaotic on both ends. Every losing team through four games has scored three or more goals.
The four-game stat fades by October. Hart's future in Vegas depends entirely on who replaces the only coach willing to stake a Cup run on him, and that answer arrives the moment this series ends.
Also read on House Of Hockey :
It's over for John Tortorella and the Golden Knights in the middle of the Stanley Cup finals
It's over for John Tortorella and the Golden Knights in the middle of the Stanley Cup finals