The hockey world’s perception of goalies has been ever-evolving, particularly over the last 20 years. In the late ’90s and early 2000s, elite goaltending was considered the crux of any contending team.
In the modern NHL, that recipe for success has proven outdated. The Hurricanes moved on to Brandon Bussi in Game 5 after a subpar start from Frederik Andersen, and now it looks as though the Vegas Golden Knights should follow suit.
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The wrong side of history
Carter Hart, who returned to the NHL after being acquitted of sexual assault charges, has struggled in the Final. He became the first goalie in NHL history to allow four or more goals in the first four games of the Stanley Cup Final.
Hart also allowed four goals in Game 5, recording an .833 save percentage.
His .856 save percentage is the second-worst among goalies with at least five games played in the history of the Stanley Cup Final, and yet head coach John Tortorella seems completely unwilling to start Adin Hill.
Hill is coming off the worst season of his NHL career by a good margin, and missed three months with a lower-body injury. But if this year’s Stanley Cup Finals have proven anything, it’s the value of rest.
Hill, similar to Bussi before Game 5, has gone over two months without a start. Any lingering injury from earlier in the year has likely healed, and for Tortorella to write him off is short-sighted.
The 30-year-old was a key piece of the 2023 Stanley Cup championship, with better than a .930 save percentage in three of the five games in the Finals.
In professional sports, you’re only as good as your last game, and it’s time for Tortorella to put in the goalie that gives his team the best chance to win. This sort of change in an elimination game of a Stanley Cup Final is unprecedented, but the Golden Knights have never backed away from controversy.
