Carter Hart accomplishing the unthinkable by giving Philadelphia Flyers playoff hope

Despite how bad things have been at times throughout the regular season, Carter Hart has the Philadelphia Flyers in the playoff race all of a sudden.

Back in the middle of December, the Philadelphia Flyers made a move with the mindset they had nothing to lose after calling Carter Hart to make his NHL debut in a game against the Detroit Red Wings.

At the time, the Flyers were one of the biggest laughing stocks across the league by sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, and watching Hart pull off the 3-2 win over the Red Wings in his debut provided fans with some much needed excitement.

Of course, just because Philadelphia finished on the winning end in this contest didn’t necessarily make fans feel confident in the team’s chances of making the playoffs, and rightfully so since the team appeared to be an absolute disaster of a mess.

Turns out, this debut with Hart was just the beginning of what can now be ruled as an epic turnaround for the Flyers, as this team has somehow managed to work their way into the playoff conversation, although they still have plenty of work to do.

One day after Philadelphia’s epic 6-5 win over Detroit in overtime on Saturday, Hart followed up with a solid performance on Sunday to help the Flyers earn a 3-1 win over the Red Wings, improving the goalie’s record to 10-1 over his last 11 starts.

Even more impressive, the Flyers currently sit with a 28-24-7 record heading into Tuesday’s contest with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who currently have a commanding lead for the best record in hockey, and it’s not even close.

Taking down a team like Tampa Bay would certainly be a huge statement win for a team like Philadelphia trying to continue making a case for having what it takes to make the playoffs.

Assuming that Hart is in net once again, whether the Flyers end up victorious over the Lightning will most likely come down to the play of the rookie goaltender.

Philadelphia still has plenty of time to earn one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, but every win moving forward is going to be extremely important. So if all goes well on Tuesday against the Lightning, this will only continue to make a stronger case for Hart and the Flyers during their playoff push.