Golden Knights’ Carter Hart out day-to-day with lower-body injury

The Vegas Golden Knights will be without their new goaltender, as Carter Hart is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

The cause of Hart’s injury is not known at this point. He played the entirety of Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Chicago Blackhawks, so either he sustained the injury during the game but was able to play through it, or sustained it between that game and Friday.

Hart was one of the five players from the 2018 Canadian World Junior team that were on trial for sexual assault and ultimately acquitted in July. He is the first and currently only player of the five to sign an NHL contract, agreeing to a two-year contract with a $2 million cap hit just 10 days after he was eligible to sign a deal.

Hart was not allowed to play in the NHL until December 1st, with him then making his return on the 2nd, where he had a .900 save percentage and a -1.24 5v5 goals saved above expected in the 4-3 shootout win. He also played three AHL games prior to his NHL return, where he went 1-2-0 with an abysmal .839 SV%.

With Hart out, Akira Schmid will reclaim the starting goaltending role. He has gotten a bulk of the Golden Knights’ starts this season, as regular starting goaltender Adin Hill has missed the last 19 games with a lower-body injury. Schmid has a 9-2-4 record, an .896 SV%, one shutout and 4.03 5v5 GSAx.

The Golden Knights also recalled Jesper Vikman from their minor league affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, as a result of the injury. Vikman will serve as the backup to Schmid until Vegas sees one of their other goalies return to the lineup. Vikman has a 4-4-0 record, and an .871 SV% in eight games in the AHL this season.