Dan Vladar absolutely stole the show in the Flyers’ season opener last night against the back-to-back champs. In his Flyerd debut, the 27-year-old netminder turned aside 32 of 34 shots for a stellar .941 Save Percentage, keeping the game within reach despite Florida’s relentless pressure (they outshot Philly 34-20).
Vladar was lights-out in the first two periods, stopping 24 of 25 to help the Flyers claw back from an early 1-0 deficit and tie it at 1-1 on Noah Cates’ gritty goal.The only blemish was Brad Marchand’s snipe from a tough angle early in the third—Vladar got screened and couldn’t adjust in time—but even that didn’t overshadow his poise under fire.
“I think he was really solid. He’s had a great camp, really solid.” – Rick Tocchet said of Vladar in his post game press conference
Head Coach Rick Tocchet called him “really solid” post game, and Vladar himself was humble, crediting Sergei Bobrovsky for making one more big stop in Florida’s 2-1 win.
It’s a huge bright spot for a Flyers squad that’s been leaky in net the last couple seasons (.890 5-on-5 SV% last year, worst in the league since 2009-10). Vladar, signed this summer to a 2-year, $6.7M deal after a solid bounce-back with Calgary (12-11-6, .898 SV%), gives them a calm, reliable tandem option opposite Samuel Ersson.
If he builds on this, Philly’s suddenly got legit stability between the pipes.Tough loss to swallow on opening night, but with road games at Carolina tomorrow and back home vs. Florida on Monday, Vladar’s start sets an optimistic tone.
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