PHILADELPHIA – The long-standing rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers will feature a new element Monday night.
For the first time in a long time, the Flyers have a goaltender to be excited about.
Carter Hart, a 20-year-old rookie, is expected to start against the Penguins. He’s 8-0 with a .934 save percentage in his last eight starts.
For most Penguins players, Monday night will provide their first look at Hart. Not winger Garrett Wilson.
When he was in the AHL early in the season, Hart started twice for Lehigh Valley against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
In the first meeting, Wilson cleaned up the rebound of a Jimmy Hayes shot on a two-on-one with 63 seconds left in the third period to give Wilkes-Barre a 5-4 victory on Oct. 19. In the second meeting, Ryan Haggerty had a hat trick as Wilkes-Barre scored a 5-2 win. Teddy Blueger scored in both games.
“Hopefully I get one up here on him too,” Wilson quipped. “Looks like he’s really poised and playing well right now. We played him earlier on in the year and I think we just got to him early. Try to do that again here tonight.”
Wilson is coming into the game with some goal-scoring confidence, having netted his first NHL goal Saturday night in Tampa.
“I come into every game with confidence, but definitely getting that one helps a lot,” Wilson said. “Hopefully I can keep it going here tonight and pot another one.”
A physical winger, Wilson said he’s looking forward to joining the Penguins-Flyers rivalry for the first time.
“I’ve played their farm team probably 20, 30 times. I got a good hate on for the Flyers,” Wilson said. “Should be a good battle tonight. Hopefully we can find a way to get a win here tonight.”
Follow the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long.
Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.
