RALEIGH, N.C. — For a second consecutive game in the Stanley Cup Final, fans at Lenovo Center directed chants “no means no” at Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart.
The chants were first heard about seven minutes of the first period of Game 2 between Vegas and the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. The puck was in Carolina’s zone, far from Hart’s crease, and fans chanted loudly enough to be heard on the Sportsnet broadcast. In Game 1, fans did the same several times when Hart played the puck.
Hart was one of five players on Canada’s 2018 World Juniors hockey team to be acquitted on charges of sexual assault by the Ontario Superior Court on July 24, 2025. All five players were suspended by the NHL for what the league called “deeply troubling and unacceptable” behavior, regardless of the verdict, in a statement released after their reinstatement.
“In relying on both our own investigation, and the conclusions reached by (Justice Maria Carroccia) in her opinion, and the players’ acquittal, the League has determined that the conduct at issue falls woefully short of the standards and values that the League and its Member Clubs expect and demand,” the NHL statement read.
Hart, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote had been charged with sexual assault in connection to an alleged incident in June 2018 in which a woman known publicly as E.M. — her identity is protected by a publication ban — said she was sexually assaulted over the span of several hours in a London, Ontario, hotel room.
The players were initially charged and ruled ineligible by the NHL in January 2024. Hart, then the starting goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers, was the most established player among the group, but the Flyers did not tender him a qualifying offer in the summer of 2024, allowing him to become a free agent.
After splitting time with other Vegas goaltenders and dealing with an injury in the regular season, the 27-year-old Hart has started all 18 of the Golden Knights’ playoff games and won 13 of them. Hart started Game 2 with a .923 save percentage and is in the running to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He stopped 25 of 29 shots in Vegas’ 5-4 Game 1 win.
On Monday, as part of the NHL’s pre-Stanley Cup Final media day, Hart was asked by The Athletic what he meant in October, when he mentioned learning and growth since the verdict, and whether that had continued in the ensuing months.
“I’ve learned a lot,” Hart said. “I’ve grown a lot since then. And I’ve been able to meet a lot of good people in the community, and I think the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation has done a really good job of making it easy for me to integrate into the community and meet a lot of cool people and — just really fortunate to be here in Vegas.
“And it’s a great culture of people, and like I said, I met a lot of cool people, and I’m just very fortunate to be here in Las Vegas and with this group.”
A member of the Golden Knights’ communications team ended Hart’s availability immediately after that answer, cutting off a follow-up attempt. He’d spoken for approximately six minutes of what was scheduled to be a 15-minute block.
