When Team Canada (and new Calgary Flames) goaltending coach Jason LaBarbera sent video clips of Carter Hart, Michael DiPietro and Joel Hofer from past World Junior Championships to his goalies for this year’s tournament, Devon Levi wanted more.

Levi asked for the complete games and more video of Hart.

“He’s trying to get better and learn every day,” LaBarbera, who was recently on the InGoal Radio Podcast, told TSN’s Mark Masters. “It’s a good way to approach things.”

Now, with Levi preparing to play for a WJC gold medal of his own after a 5-0 win against Russia in the semi-final on Monday, we figured it was time to share more Hart clips of our own.

​The Sequence

In his sixth entry for our weekly Pro Reads series, Hart breaks down a 5-on-3 penalty kill against the New Jersey Devils early last season that ends in a highlight reel save off Taylor Hall.

There are several elements worth examining in the sequence that leads up to the save, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Hart from his previous five entries, it’s that he isn’t shy about critiquing his own play and decisions while reviewing video. Hart was hard on himself for a backdoor save off the rush against the Florida Panthers that ended with him spread out more than he’d prefer, while watching an odd-man rush and one-timer against Colorado, and even in breaking down footage of a slap pass through a multi-layered screen to a wide-open Washington Capitals forward in the slot. Forget the degree of difficulty, Hart is always looking for things he could have done better. So, when you watch this, do so with a critical eye.

The sequence starts down near the bottom of the faceoff circle with Hart already in RVH:

Don’t worry, he discusses it in the Pro Read.

From there, the puck was up in the zone to No. 1 pick Jack Hughes:

As you can see from the photo above, Hart has done a nice job of holding his edges despite a fake from Gudas that was good enough to get the shot-blocking forward to his knees. It’s the kind of patience we normally applaud, so what didn’t Hart like about how he played this?

After tracking the pass up to Hughes in plenty of time, Hart stopped short of the top of his crease, retreating a little to the position above as Hughes skates downhill well inside top of face-off circle, appearing to load up a shot. What do you think of Hart’s depth?

Again, make a note, and don’t worry if it’s critical. If you’re right, he’ll agree.

THE SAVE

Before we get to Hart’s breakdown, however, let’s take a look at the entire sequence:

As you can see in the video, Hart is late finding that cross-ice pass from Hughes to Hall, but before we get to Hart’s breakdown, is there anything specific about the way that Hart reacts when he does find the puck that allows him to make this spectacular save?

THE PRO READ

Now, let’s hear how Hart saw the sequence. The Good. The Bad. And what specifically sets him up for the Spectacular glove save off Hall at the end:

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