In the Flyers’ first 13 games, the goaltending generally hasn’t been the crux of the team’s woes. The tandem of Dan Vladar and Sam Ersson (and now Aleksei Kolosov) have been holding Philadelphia in games for the most part. There have been a few clunkers but, generally, they have held up their end of the bargain.
Prior to Wednesday’s slate of games, Vladar finds himself sixth in the league in goals against average (2.33) but has fallen to 15th now in terms of save percentage (.912), since two consecutive average to subpar appearances can drop him down the list in some statistics, particularly early in the season.
However both Ersson and Vladar can’t be guilty of not battling their way through some tough stretches during games. Rarely has the opponent scored and you’ve seen either Vladar or Ersson shrug their shoulders, shake their heads, or give death stares to defensemen or forwards for either screening them, or deflecting the puck accidentally. And neither goalie has thrown his teammates under the bus after the game, nor has the coach or players thrown the goalie under the same bus for a blown save or leaky goal.
Vladar’s last two games
In the Toronto loss over the weekend, Vladar basically had a below average performance. He ended up with 15 saves on 19 shots for a .789 save percentage but was pulled after the first two periods, the first time that happened this year to the netminder who signed a two-year contract in the summer. It wasn’t a great outing. A few shots that looked stoppable weren’t, and he showed that he wasn’t a robot.
The follow-up game Tuesday night in Montreal saw the Flyers jump out to a commanding 3-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old. But that command slipped through the team’s and Vladar’s hands in the second period as Montreal put four consecutive goals behind him. Vladar had no chance on a few of them, but the third Canadiens goal which tied the game was one he would’ve love to have back. A short-side shot that found its way through Vladar who wasn’t quite square to the post. As for the fourth goal, it looked back but considering the shooter, he probably didn’t have much of a chance either.
Darth Vladar was clutch again. 🦾#PHIvsMTL | @BankofAmerica pic.twitter.com/PPS1dJwtDW
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 5, 2025
But, rather than give Vladar the hook like he did against the Maple Leafs, Tocchet decided to stick with him. Perhaps he realized just how solid he’s played so far at a position where an .880 save percentage last season was seen as trending upwards. Or he decided he needed to stick with Vladar and hope that the Flyers found the reset button for the third. They did just that, with Nikita Grebenkin scoring the tying goal. Meanwhile Vladar was more than fine the rest of the way. In the overtime he used a brilliant poke check to deny a sure game-winning goal by Montreal. Then in the shootout session he denied both golden boy Ivan Demidov and Cole Caufield before Nick Suzuki whiffed on his attempt. The Flyers sort of escaped with two points despite the tremendous edge in shots on goal (42 to 20).
“You’ve got nothing to lose,” Vladar said post-game. “It’s kind of a mental game after and obviously the guys played a very good game in front of me and they bailed me out. I for sure owe them one.” When asked about his shootout strategy, Vladar was very straightforward. “There’s no secret, you just compete, and you’re just trying to out-will the other guy. You just got to want it more than the other guy.
“It was a tough, tough game for a goaltender. I didn’t see a lot of action and if I did it went in. So, you know, we just got to reset and that’s what I did after the second. I just kind of played it through and focused on the next one. I just wanted to leave it all out there and just look in the mirror at the end of the game and just tell myself I did everything. I’m glad it worked out because as I said the guys bailed me out.”
After the game, Tocchet praised Vladar and the team for their character. Despite having several chances to blow the game wide open or at least keep a three-goal lead in the second, they didn’t crater like they might have in previous years. “Even when I talked in the third some of the players were saying, ‘We got this, we got this,'” Tocchet said following the game. “You could see guys were confident going into this game. The goalie, that was good by Vladdy to come up big for us. I mean, like i said, he could’ve folded. Four goals, the crowd’s freaking out, going crazy. It could go two ways. He held us in. He showed resolve. Good for him.”
Making big saves in key moments
While it might not be the highest of praise for Vladar given the second period he had, it should be a huge confidence boost to Vladar moving forward. And it also showed a side of Vladar fans hadn’t seen before: his mental toughness. As Tocchet said, a 3-0 lead that results in a 4-3 deficit could’ve ended up being an 8-4 or 7-3 laugher with Vladar’s confidence shot either way. Keep him in to mop up or pull him for the second consecutive game. Neither option is productive. Instead by keeping him in, Vladar showed he can battle despite some hiccups. And, just like Sam Ersson has in the shootout, simply shut down the opposition.
Vladar’s other partner, Sam Ersson, had far more average performances this year prior to his injury. He rarely looked great from start to finish in any one game. Nor did he look like he’d stone the opposition at any point in regulation. However, Ersson has stepped up huge after 60 minutes of regulation in a few games. He has been money in overtime more often than not, making huge game-saving stops against some of the league’s best. Meanwhile, in the shootout, he has stopped 37 of 47 shots in his career, which is a very high percentage for a rather beleaguered and badgered goaltender the last few seasons.
Heading into Wednesday’s games, Philadelphia has had nine shots against them in the shootouts. That puts them in a three-way tie for fourth most with Dallas and Nashville (Los Angeles leads the NHL with 18 shootout attempts against). And for teams with a minimum of nine shootout attempts against them, the tandem of Vladar and Ersson has stopped all but two of those shots for a .778 save percentage which is tops in the NHL. That might not seem like a huge deal, particularly considering shootouts aren’t part of playoff hockey. Yet those wins and extra point can be the difference between squeezing into the wildcard spot and being on the outside looking in for a possible sixth consecutive season.
Dan’s diversion tactics
Back in 2021, when Vladar was with Calgary, he would reportedly binge-watch Netflix programs to take his mind off a bad game or poor performance. He also decided he would ignore social media and post-game shows to see what was being said about him or his play. “I’d always watch hockey and watch whatever, my stats and stuff like that. And three or four years ago, I was like, ‘Stop,’” Vladar told a Calgary newspaper at the time. “I was like, ‘No social media.’ I’m trying to stay away from those things, literally just trying not to think about anything else but my performance and our team performance. It’s easy to get distracted by social media, TV. Or when you see the studio and what they’re talking about, then you start thinking.
“Obviously, it’s hard. You can do whatever you want, but sometimes you still lay in bed and close your eyes and you have all those thoughts from the game. It’s hard. But as I’m getting older, I’m getting better at not thinking about hockey once you leave the rink, because then it can get tiring. You just really need to have your head on the right spot.”
If Vladar has managed to maintain that mindset in the years since, it’s also quite probable that he’s able to simply move on from a bad goal or tough bounce. And that’s exactly what seemed to be the case Tuesday night in Montreal. Rather than letting it get the best of him, Vladar simply shook the middle period off and regrouped for a stellar performance in the remaining 25 minutes and shootout. It’s that type of character and mental toughness which can boost not just the goaltender but the team. Besides, the league has yet to overturn a bad goal allowed based on a goaltender’s overt or demonstrative self-pity. If clunkers come along, which they will, the hope is Ersson and Vladar are able to simply move on and focus on what’s in front of them. Dwelling on them does nothing positive.
In the end, it appears that both Ersson and Vladar have the mental toughness to weather some hiccups over the season. It might not be smooth sailing throughout 2025-26, but it’s good to know that neither goaltender will be kicking themselves for days or weeks after allowing a bad goal at a bad time during a game. As well, so far, it appears that Tocchet has the trust and confidence in both goaltenders (and probably Aleksei Kolosov to boot). That seems to be a far different situation than the previous three seasons where John Tortorella’s disdain for poor goaltending was visible both behind the bench and in front of the microphone, not just kept privately in the locker room.
