Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
Saturday afternoon was the first Flyers game on home ice since the Olympic break. It was a spring-like day and the sell out crowd was in great spirits enjoying the sixty degree weather amongst gigantic piles of snow in the parking lots before the game.
Dan Vladar
It’s not really going out on much of a limb to say that this was arguably Dan Vladar’s best game of the season. He’s had plenty of fine performances since donning the orange and black but today he was unreal.
It wasn’t so much the quantity of the shots he faced, it was the quality. There were several times in this match where it looked like the Bruins had him dead to rights and he somehow found a way to keep the door shut. He stopped 26 of 27 shots for a .963 SV%.
His lateral game was so on point, not just his positioning but leg extensions to get pads on pucks that seemed destined to get by. Boston was swarming at times and you heard thud after thud as the Flyers goaltender kicked pucks away from his net. He absolutely stoned Morgan Geekie on three separate occasions.
Philly vs Boston
The Flyers dressed heavy in preparation for a physical game. It was the first time in a bit that we’ve seen Hathaway and Deslauriers making an appearance together. Nicolas Deslauriers took center stage 8:33 into the 1st period squaring off against Tanner Jeannot.
This was not a scrap or a tussle. It was a full on heavyweight bout at center ice with both players landing major blows. It was a pretty even fight. In fact “even” was a big part of the theme for the day. Faceoffs, hits, puck possession, these stats were really even across the board. Puck possession time was about as dead even as you can possibly get. Boston did outshoot the Flyers 27-17 but Vladar had that covered.
There was no scoring until the 3rd period. Things got a little messy for both teams in the middle of the 2nd period and it was a nice change of pace. Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman was forced to make a few big saves of his own. Back to back beauties on a Travis Konecny wrap around followed up by a huge glove save against Christian Dvorak.
Somethin’s gotta give
It looked as if the Bruins had broken the scoreless tie just over a minute into the 3rd period. Hampus Lindholm fired the puck past the Flyers goaltender shortly after one of his teammates made apparent contact. The goal was waved off immediately for goaltender interference and no challenge was requested.
3:41 into the 3rd period the Flyers got a very fortunate bounce. Jamie Drysdale wrapped the puck around the boards into the Bruins zone. The puck hit a seam in the boards behind the net and shot out front leaving the Bruins goaltender slightly out of position. The Flyers rapidly responded to their sudden opportunity. Christian Dvorak raced to the puck and made a slick behind the back pass to Travis Konecny who fired the puck into the gaping side of the net.
11:55 into the final period the Flyers got their insurance goal. The line of Dvorak, Konecny, and Zegras were moving the puck very well around the Boston zone. This caused the slot to open up for Jamie Drysdale who had time to adjust his positioning and pin point his shot just over the pad but under the blocker to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
Boston cashed in with 6:57 left in regulation to cut the Flyers lead in half. Charlie McAvoy charging in from the point with a clumsy shot as the bouncing puck fluked its way over the goal line.
The Bruins pulled Swayman with under two minutes left to skate the extra attacker. This led to Sean Couturier’s first goal since December 7th. It was an empty netter but sometimes that’s all it takes to break the spell. Flyers win by the final score of 3-1. Dan Vladar was named #1 star of the game. And Flyers Fans returned to the parking lots for a bit more good spirited fun.
Extra Credit: Dan Vladar has been the difference in so many games for the Flyers this season. He came to Philly on a mission and he has really proved himself. Two seasons ago the Flyers were eliminated from the playoffs during the final game of the regular season. If Vladar had been here for the second half of that season the drought may already be over. At 28 years of age he’s just hitting what is considered “prime” for goaltenders.
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