The Philadelphia Flyers have given their entire fan base great news ahead of Game 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins and we no longer have to be worried.
Dan Vladar will be in the crease for his fourth consecutive start despite suffering a minor injury in the middle of Game 3 and sticking it out to finish the game and give the Flyers a 3-0 series lead. Now, they have a big opportunity to complete the S-word that we don’t really want to say just in case anyone believes in jinxes.
Dan Vladar thankfully starting Game 4 after injury scare
Vladar looked to be hurt — or at least not quite 100 per cent — the last half of the third period in Game 3 when Penguins forward Bryan Rust’s knee landed on Vladar’s right arm. The video replay appeared to show Vladar hyperextending his elbow on the play, leading him to roll over to his right and the officials to stop play. Play resumed a few minutes later, but not before Vladar spoke to the team’s trainers to make sure he could finish the game. Vladar allowed one goal after that but the Flyers won 5-2, taking a 3-0 lead in the series.
The Flyers didn’t practice on Friday, and on Thursday Vladar took a maintenance day as did a few other players to recover. There was no indication either way whether Vladar (who was also on the ice with Sam Ersson and Aleksei Kolosov) could play tonight in Game 4, but seeing the team’s number one goaltender participating in practice was a good indication he’s a definite possibility tonight. A subsequent tweet also leaned towards Vladar being good to go as he was in the net traditionally occupied by the starter. And he was also the first to leave the ice.
Vladar is first off the ice. Strongly implies he'll be the starter tonight.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) April 25, 2026
After the morning skate the Flyers confirmed that Vladar will be starting tonight and looking to finish off the Penguins in round one. Tocchet confirmed the news also after practice, apparently adding that he was quite confident he wouldn’t be able to go tonight.
Heading into Saturday’s schedule of playoff games, Vladar is fourth among goaltenders with a 1.33 goals-against average in the playoffs, and fourth overall with a .946 save percentage. He’s also one of two keepers to register a shutout in round one, with Carolina’s Frederik Andersen being the other. Essentially, he has been a major reason as to why the Flyers currently have the sizeable series lead that they do.
Lines remain the same
With Owen Tippett and Cam York both having maintenance days after Game 3, the two Flyers also took Saturday’s game-day skate. And it looks like head coach Rick Tocchet is not making any changes to the lineup. After all, if it’s not broke, why fix it? Noah Juulsen will remain on the third pairing on defense along with Nick Seeler, indicating that Emil Andrae will be out again after suffering an injury earlier in the series. But the young Swedish blueliner appears to be in full health after taking part of the full morning skate. Regardless, Tocchet keeps everything the same.
Lines and pairs at morning skate:
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) April 25, 2026
Konecny – Dvorak – Martone
Foerster – Zegras – Tippett
Barkey – Cates – Michkov
Glendening – Couturier – Hathaway
Sanheim – Ristolainen
York – Drysdale
Seeler – Juulsen
Vladar in starter's net.
There was some speculation that the third line could be altered somewhat, particularly with Denver Barkey being replaced by either Alex Bump or Carl Grundstrom. However, Tocchet has decided to keep that line in-tact and the rest of the lineup will go completely unchanged.
Puck drop will be at 8:00 p.m. for the Flyers’ massive opportunity to kill off the Penguins in four straight games.
