WASHINGTON — There’s no place Carter Hart would rather be, which makes all the sense in the world. The 20-year-old goalie, like all 20-year-old hotshot prospects, wants to be in the big show.

Considering the Flyers have had four goalies get hurt and they lost Cal Pickard on waivers, Hart’s time came earlier than expected in a season that looked so promising in September and quickly became disastrous. Of course, Hart doesn’t want to be in a losing situation and the Flyers don’t want him developing in a scenario where losing has become the norm.

“I think he’s done well,” Wayne Simmonds said Monday night, struggling to find answers after the Flyers lost a seventh straight game. “He’s tough mentally. I think you can tell that with the way he plays. If he gives up a goal he’s right back in there and makes the next save. He gives us a chance every single night that he plays for us. We’ve got to take it upon ourselves, the guys who are playing in front of him to be better for him.”

“A lot of these games where…one or two steps going our way…we’re not far off,” Hart pleaded. “I know it doesn’t look like that, but if you look at our most recent games, we’re not far off and there were games where we definitely deserved better fates and I think we just have to keep working it and stick to our game and just compete.”

The question is how much longer Hart gets that chance.

Both general manager Chuck Fletcher and interim coach Scott Gordon, who has been behind the bench for every one of Hart’s professional games, seemed reluctant to say that Hart should be in the NHL when the Flyers recalled him out of necessity on Dec. 17. Outside of one poor game where he allowed three goals on 10 shots on New Year’s Eve against the Carolina Hurricanes, Hart has answered the bell. In his first seven games, Hart had a .909 save percentage. Only Elliott, who had a .911 save percentage in 14 games, performed better.

His mental strength, which the Flyers have lauded since selecting him in the second round of the 2016 draft, suggests that he can handle being on a team that lacks confidence and victories.

“I think as long as he’s playing well, that shouldn’t bother him,” Gordon said. “Obviously I know he’s thrilled about the opportunity. Other than the Carolina game where he got pulled, he’s given us a chance to win and we just gotta do a better job of getting him some offense.”

Fletcher has been trying to learn the franchise on the fly and hasn’t been physically with the team on a daily basis as things like scouting meetings and the World Junior Championship transpired. Hart’s immediate future must be on his short list of concerns, however.

Now that he’s gotten his feet wet in the NHL, is Hart better served getting experience on a team that is so far out of playoff contention that they aren’t concerned with the number, or would he be better off back with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms trying to win an American Hockey League title?

Tuesday, Hart got the day off after playing Monday and making 34 saves in a loss to the St. Louis Blues. Mike McKenna, whom the Flyers picked up off waivers Friday from the Vancouver Canucks, got the start against the defending champion Washington Capitals.

“Three games in four days and then the way the way the schedule sets up from here to the break, it’s every other day,” Gordon explained. “When you look for an opportunity (to get Hart rest) this is probably it.”

Hart will likely be back between the pipes Thursday against the Dallas Stars. Until the Flyers either acquire an eighth goalie this season or one of the three injured ones returns, it would appear as though Hart is the Flyers’ No. 1 guy.

For now.

“Yeah I feel comfortable in the net,” Hart said. “I think after my first couple games there I was able to settle in. It starts in practice and making sure that I’m coming to practice every day ready to work.”

Dave Isaac; @davegisaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com

Up next: vs. Dallas Stars

When: 7 p.m., Thursday

TV/Radio: NBCSP/97.5 FM