The Flyers picked up a hard-fought win last night in Pittsburgh to put themselves up 2-0 in the series and head back home with momentum to spare.
And while last night still didn’t see that Penguins offense firing on all cylinders — we can again give the Flyers’ forechecking game some credit for that, for the disruptive work they put in — they were able to pick up steam pretty significantly as the game went on, and it became a real challenge for the Flyers to lock things down and maintain their lead through to the final buzzer. It took a strong collective effort, but the biggest difference maker for the Flyers in that matchup was, to be sure, goaltender Dan Vladar.
This game was a bit of a slow starter — even with all of the power play time they got, the Flyers held the Penguins to just two shots on goal over the course of that opening frame — but, as the game went on and more rhythm was established, the Penguins began to find their footing and were able to bring a little bit more life into their offensive game.
As desperation began to mount, the Penguins worked to pour more and more chances on Vladar, and the Flyers skaters weren’t quite perfect in taking away all of their dangerous opportunities, but when the team defense in front of him failed, Vladar still stood tall as an eraser of any mistakes or breakdowns, and ultimately stopped all 27 shots that he faced in this game.
It was just the effort that the team needed from him, and just about as perfect of a way as one might have drawn up for him to pick up his very first shutout as a Flyer.
And in a way, this is the type of game that Vladar has been preparing for all season — he’s seen a number of starts throughout the regular season in which he went long stretches of the game without seeing many shots at all, and had to find ways to remain engaged for when the inevitable flurry would come. That well of preparation served him in a big way last night, as he delivered another stellar performance on the way to another huge win for his team.
“Yeah, I mean, like I said, he’s been he’s been like that all year for us,” head coach Rick Tocchet told media in Pittsburgh after the game. “Guys enjoy playing for him, and like I said, he comes by the, like I told you guys, he comes by the bench, he’s talking to the players, talking to bench. A lot of guys aren’t used to goalies talking that much, but that’s the way [Vladar] is. I love his personality and, you know, he’s a fun guy to coach, I’ll tell you that.”
Vladar’s efforts in this game were next to none, and his ability to keep play under control in his own crease is one thing, but just as important to the ultimate result in this one was the way that he was also able to step up and settle the team in front of him. There’s no question by now that he’s a vocal member of this team, and that made a big difference for the team, as well.
“Well, there’s a time when they were pressing us,” Tocchet went on, “[for] about three, four minutes and we got to the timeout, and they were coming [in] waves at us and he said, ‘We’re okay, guys. Don’t worry about it. Relax.’ Like, you know, he says that [and] he’s the goalie. He’s getting, you know, he’s getting peppered a little bit. Means a lot because now guys are like, “Oh man, I gotta pick my game up or I gotta maybe block a shot for this guy.” So, I think it’s more just him when he says that, guys feel kind of, ‘Man, I better pick my game up because he’s saying that.’ So, it’s more like that.”
Vladar has done a lot for this team throughout the regular season not just to establish himself as a dependable backstop for his new squad, but also as a leader, a rallying voice in that room. The team wants to play well in front of him because he’s competing so hard, but also because he’s taking such a direct role in building up the team as a whole. It makes for a fun player to coach, as Tocchet said, and it makes for an easy player to root for, to rally around.
It hasn’t been an easy season for Vladar, with the ups and downs the team has had to weather and with the workload he’s been tasked with managing, but he’s held up to just about every challenge that he’s faced. That’s made for a lot of resilience built up, and it being well rewarded now, when the lights are the brightest.
