For Flyers goalie Carter Hart, was it a one-game mirage or the start of a revival? | Sam Carchidi

Another game, another loss for the fading Flyers.

This one — a 3-2 shootout defeat on the road Saturday to the New York Islanders — felt different, however.

For one, the Flyers outplayed the almost-perfect-at-home Islanders when the teams were at five-on-five.

For another, the Flyers played a solid three periods, and that’s a statement that could rarely be made during their disastrous March.

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And most importantly, goalie Carter Hart looked like he did during his impressive first full NHL season last year.

If the Flyers are to make the playoffs — and three games with Boston this week will play a huge role — Hart needs to quickly return to form.

Saturday was a good start.

The Isles had just 24 shots, but many of them were high-quality chances, and Hart had most of the answers.

There was a glove save on Mathew Barzal to keep the Flyers within 1-0 in the closing seconds of the first period. There were three saves in succession on point-blank opportunities in the second period. There were clutch third-period stops on Barzal, who was in alone, and Ryan Pulock (glove save on his blast) to give the Flyers momentum. There was another glove save, this one on Oliver Wahlstrom, to keep the shootout scoreless until Barzal connected.

“You need your top players to permit us to have a playoff push,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “And we needed Carter to come up big and he did.”

“He kept us in the game,” Jake Voracek said after the Flyers overcame a 2-0 third-period deficit.

Hart, 22, looked refreshed from being off the previous three games. By his body language, he appeared much more confident than during a March in which he had a 5.04 goals-against average and .815 save percentage, which contributed mightily to the team’s 6-10-1 month.

Perhaps Saturday was a one-game mirage. Or perhaps a three-game break and the extra work he did with goaltender coach Kim Dillabaugh will trigger a revival in the season’s final month.

“He did what we expect the goaltender to do, which is to give your team a chance,” Vigneault said.

Hart said the week of practice was beneficial. “Got a bit of a mental breather from the game as well,” he said. “I just came to practice every day not pouting, just having fun with the boys, and competing and battling. Just showing up to work every day with my hard hat and my lunch pail.”

Hart’s strong effort against the Isles figures to have earned him the start Monday in Boston, the team the Flyers are chasing for East Division’s final playoff spot. The teams meet Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday.

“Carter was solid,” said captain Claude Giroux, who salvaged a hard-earned point for the Flyers with a pair of third-period goals. “He was battling, he was finding the puck; he made some big saves for us. He made some huge saves to keep it 2-0.”

“It obviously wasn’t the result you want at the end of the day,” Hart said. “But it was great for us to battle back in the third and get one point.”

Giroux echoed the sentiments.

“Our game,” Giroux said, “was the best it’s been in a while, and we need to build on this.”

The troublesome part: Every time the Flyers seem to play a strong game in the last five weeks, they follow it up with a clunker.

That can’t happen the rest of the way or the players will be calling for tee times while other teams are competing for the Stanley Cup.

“March was definitely pretty jam-packed, but I think April is just as much,” Hart said. The Flyers played 17 games in March, and will play 15 games this month.

“It’s definitely going to be important down the stretch here to make sure we’re ready to play every night,” he said. “I think a lot of that is going to be recovery and rest and making sure we’re doing the little things to prepare so we can give 100% every night. We’re getting down to crunch time here. Pretty much one calendar month left, so we just have to be ready to bring it every night.”

Especially their young goalie.