Goalie Carter Hart shuts down the Rangers to win again at home

The Rangers’ first shot of the game handcuffed Carter Hart, who doesn’t get crossed up at the Wells Fargo Center very often. He fumbled the puck and Jesper Fast made a terrific play to poke it past him.

That little sequence occurred three minutes in. He shut the door virtually the rest of the way.

While the Flyers’ top line circled like Dobermans around a sirloin, their young goaltender kept the Rangers looking to the rafters in exasperation.

“There was a few saves when he went east-west to get a piece of it,” said Claude Giroux, referring to one of Hart’s three saves on Rangers star Artemi Panarin. “I’ve been on the other side of it when a goalie is making all the stops and you can’t find a way to score. It gets really frustrating. I’m just happy he’s on our side.”

Hart has won six in a row at home and 14 of his last 15. He got a bit of good luck when Panarin hit the goal post on a third-period power play, but he was otherwise flawless until Brett Howden scored with 25.3 seconds left to make it a 5-2 Flyers win.

It was a meaningless goal to everyone except those who played the over/under of 6.5 goals.

The Rangers came into South Philly with a nine-game road winning streak and even that momentum wasn’t enough. New York played Thursday night, winning in Montreal by scoring five consecutive goals.

On Friday, they couldn’t keep up with the Flyers. Losing Chris Kreider in the first period didn’t help. He broke his foot blocking a slap shot by Phil Myers.

Hart has one loss at home in regulation since Oct. 20. One of the headlines in The Inquirer that day was columnist Marcus Hayes wondering if this was the last rodeo for Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.

That’s how long Hart has been dominating at the Wells Fargo Center.

“He’s really calm for how young he is,” said Jake Voracek, whose four assists led that top line of him, Giroux (two goals), and Sean Couturier (two points). “He made a lot of big saves, [especially] in the second. ... I know how frustrating it is if you don’t score on your chances and the other team comes down and [scores]. It’s kind of deflating.”

Up next for Hart will be translating his home dominance to the road. He’s been better lately, but if he can be as dominant, it could be a fascinating spring.

Hart is 6-1 since missing three weeks with an abdominal strain with a sparkling .929 save percentage. He gave up that early one to Fast on Friday and then stopped the Rangers’ next 25 shots while the Flyers took control.

Short memories for goalies are almost as important as good glove hands, and Hart has both.

“It’s one of the [characteristics] of top goaltenders have,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “They’re able to put a goal behind them and focus on stopping the next puck."