Carter Hart is off to another strong start for the Flyers. Now, it’s about making it last.

DALLAS — Thirty minutes have passed since his team’s morning skate finished, but Carter Hart is still on the American Airlines Center ice working. While goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh corrals some pucks and puts them in the right places, Hart shows healthy scratch Morgan Frost what to do in the upcoming drill.

As he finishes explaining the drill, the doors to the far corner open up. It’s time for the Stars’ ice crew to get to work on the ice.

“Two more minutes,” Dillabaugh says, and the wish is granted.

By the end of the extra skate, Hart is drenched in sweat. While his teammates had a game Saturday night vs. the Stars, Hart’s workday was over. It was the result of the Flyers carrying three goalies into the start of the season. Hart, off to another strong start, got a full practice in and a chance to relax at night, his first game night off. The team was off Sunday and plays again in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

“It’s all about taking care of your body and making sure you’re physically rested and 100% for every game,” Hart said. “I feel great right now, but I think in the long run it’s a good use of having three guys around.”

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Hart said the process part, taking care of his body, and managing his workload is not a new realization. He said he learned it quickly during his first season as a professional in 2018-19.

“When you have opportunities to take care of your body, you have to do it if you want to play a long time,” he said. “I’ve talked to many players over the years. You really have to take care of your body.”

It’s all a mature perspective from Hart, who is just 25 years old, an easy thing to forget considering this is his sixth season with the club.

Hart, in helping the Flyers get off to a 3-1 start, looked as sharp as ever. It’s still early, and a small sample size, but this is three consecutive Octobers that Hart has gotten off to a great start. Let’s keep the small sample size in perspective, but his .929 save percentage is the highest in his career, and so is the 2.01 goals-against average. His expected goals against, according to Evolving Hockey, were the lowest among the eight goalies who had played in at least four games entering Saturday’s action.

Two seasons ago, Hart had a 2.79 goals-against average in October, and last year it was 2.31. What’s in the fast starts? Hart said it was “the hunger of being out of the playoffs” and the long offseason that comes with that reality.

“You can only practice so much and you can’t simulate games,” Hart said. “The feeling of competing against other players around the league, around the world, nothing beats it.”

If it looked at times like Hart was bored with training camp, it’s probably because he was. It had been nearly six months since Hart played in a real game, and he was ready to go.

It’s showing. Hart made 31 saves in a season-opening win in Columbus. Then, when the team in front of him played poorly in Ottawa, he surrendered five goals on 31 shots (though, to be fair to him, he was screened on at least two of them). How’d he follow that up? With his sixth career shutout, during the Flyers’ 2-0 win over Vancouver Tuesday. Then he allowed just one goal on 23 shots as the Flyers shut down the high-powered Edmonton Oilers in a 4-1 win.

“He puts a lot of work into himself and I’m just glad it’s paying off,” Sean Couturier said. “Everything he does is with a purpose.”

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All of this is evidence that Hart is continuing to trend in the right direction. It was just three seasons ago when Hart went from looking like a potential Vezina winner and franchise stalwart to the worst goalie in the NHL. That’s not hyperbole. Hart’s advanced numbers during the 2020-21 season were the worst in the league.

Hart, in the last year of a three-year, $11.9 million deal (he will be a restricted free agent after the season), still hasn’t finished a season in the top 20 in the league in save percentage since his disastrous 2020-21. But his play to kick off 2023-24 has been strong, and it’s crucial information for a Flyers team that’s trying to figure out what it has for the future.

There’s the elephant in the room, too. All of this is happening while multiple investigations continue into an alleged 2018 sexual assault involving members of Canada’s World Juniors hockey team, which Hart played on. Hart said during training camp that he couldn’t talk about the investigations, but said he didn’t feel like there was any cloud hanging over his head as the season began.

At any time, Hart could be disciplined for his role in that incident. Or he won’t be. Either way, Flyers coach John Tortorella said he wasn’t surprised by how Hart is balancing it all as the season gets going.

“That’s what’s impressed me the most about him since I met him last year,” Tortorella said. “When people talked to me about him, they weren’t sure where he was there, being a pro and all of that. He’s in a crazy market in Philly as far as goaltending is concerned. I think it’s a whole different type of pressure there in Philly because of all the things that have gone on. I’ve been so impressed, and it’s one of the most impressive things about him, is how he handles that. What it is to be a pro, his preparation. Very mature for such a young man.”