Five Questions with Carter Hart

NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Five Questions With …" runs every Tuesday. We talk to key figures in the game and ask them questions to gain insight into their lives, careers and the latest news.
The latest edition features Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart:

Carter Hart will likely start for the Philadelphia Flyers against the Anaheim Ducks at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, PRIME, NHL.TV) exactly one year after he was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Dec. 17, 2018.
"It's kind of crazy it's coming up on a year in the NHL," Hart said. "It's flown by, gone by really fast."
Hart's debut one day later against the Detroit Red Wings made him the sixth of an NHL-record eight goalies to start a game for the Flyers last season.
He arrived with the promise of being a young franchise goalie the Flyers can build around, and he's started to deliver on that promise. Hart is 10-7-3 with a 2.47 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 22 games (20 starts) this season. He's been pulled from a game three times, tied for the NHL lead, but he's also one of 11 goalies with at least six starts allowing one goal or fewer.
He's 26-20-4 with a 2.68 GAA and .913 save percentage in 53 games since his NHL debut Dec. 18, 2018. He had an eight-game winning streak from Jan. 14-Feb. 9 that tied the NHL record for the longest by a goalie before his 21st birthday (Jocelyn Thibault for the Quebec Nordiques, March 6-26, 1995). He has a .914 even-strength save percentage while facing 1,286 shots at even-strength, tied for 17th-most since he made his debut, and has had better than a .900 save percentage in 58.0 percent of his 50 NHL starts, 34th among the 68 goalies to start at least 10 games since his first game.
Here are Five Questions with … Carter Hart:
What's different for you now compared to when you first came up to the NHL last year?
"Nothing really. I worked on some aspects of my game in the summer. I take the same approach I've always had, try to take things one day at a time. Try to come to the rink with a new, fresh mindset every day. We're in the business of it's not what you did yesterday or what you did a couple months ago, it's what are you doing now, what did you do for us today. So I think that's the kind of business we're in and the game we're in, and you have to approach it one day at a time."

It's every kid's dream to play in the NHL, but once you got here, when did it sink in that you're actually an NHL player?
"Maybe a month in, just kind of realized that these guys are human too. It's playing against some of my idols, but they're all human too, just like you and I. That's when I realized that I'm in the NHL and I belong here too."
What's been the biggest adjustment you've had to make in the past year?
"Taking care of my body has been a big part of my game. Making sure I'm getting enough sleep, eating the right things. Because we've played a lot of hockey lately, we played 16 games in 30 days in November, it's a lot of quick turnarounds on a lot of nights. So I think it's really important that you try to recover the best you can so that you can perform again in a short turnaround.

The Flyers have had a difficult history as far as developing young goalies, and there's a lot of hope that you could be the franchise goalie they've spent so many years looking for. So did you feel any pressure coming into the season?
"No. I put in a good, hard summer of training, preparing for this season. I feel good right now. I really went into this summer, worked on a couple things in my game, got bigger and stronger and faster. Right now, playing a lot of hockey, it's important that you take care of your body and you do all the little things right to perform your best every night."
You went pretty basic with your mask last season. This season you've got versions with different characters from the Spider-Man universe. Is this you starting to show some of who you are away from the rink?
"I came up with the designs with Franny (Drummond, of Paint Zoo). I really liked the Marvel movies with Spider-Man and Venom, I liked that movie 'Venom' that came out a couple years ago (2018). That's the idea I had behind it, I wanted to bring that in. And the Carnage (character) matches well with our orange, so I thought it was good to bring that in."