At first glance, Dan Vladar’s stats don’t exactly jump off the page following the Flyers’ recent 5-4 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens. With that being said, he did put forth a strong performance in overtime and the shootout, stopping all three of Montreal’s attempts. After being tied for the league lead in save percentage and goals against as recently as last week, Vladar has certainly cooled off. Not only have his statistics left much to be desired, but so has his play.
There were many opportunities in Tuesday’s game where Vladar was caught out of position, hesitating in decision making behind his net, and flubbing rebounds in the crease. Traits like these were not integral parts of Vladar’s game during his first six starts as a Flyer. To start the season, the 28 year-old Czech was positionally sound, athletic when moving laterally, and saw the puck through traffic exceptionally well. Vladar appeared to be confident. With the way he was playing, it looked like Danny Briere found a diamond in the rough by signing Vladar as a free agent last summer.
For now, let’s dive into what transpired in Vladar’s goals against on Tuesday night and determine what could’ve been done to prevent each goal (if anything).
Kirby Dach cashes in on a fortuitous bounce from behind the net following Noah Dobson’s point shot that went wide.
Whether Dobson intentionally missed the net hoping for a rebound in the slot or not, it ended up working beautifully for the Habs. The entire 5-man unit for the Flyers (Vladar included) was reacting to the point shot and not expecting the carom behind the boards. Heck, even four of the five Canadiens on the ice were focused on the point shot (except for Dach). Quite frankly, there wasn’t much Vladar could’ve done on this one with the sudden change in direction from the right to the left side of his crease.
Nick Suzuki benefits from quick puck moving and a perfectly executed fake from Ivan Demidov
As many analysts have stated, there are few powerplays that appear more lethal than that of the Canadiens. The sheer skill shown in this play made the Flyers’ penalty kill look foolish. Every player reacted to Demidov’s fake wrist shot before he effortlessly found Suzuki in the slot for his third goal in the season. Perhaps Vladar could’ve been more anticipatory of the pass across the slot, but it truly was a skillful play by Demidov and Suzuki.
Kirby Dach sneaks the puck past Vladar after an all-star setup by the 2025 Calder Trophy winner, Lane Hutson
After Lane Hutson dangles through Flyers’ rookie, Jacob Gaucher, he dances into the offensive zone and banks the puck off Vladar’s stick to a poorly marked Kirby Dach. Regardless, Vladar held a subpar seal on the post to yield the tying goal just beneath his arm and above his right pad. Well, this one speaks for itself. By no means should this puck have gotten past Vladar. It may actually be the weakest goal he has surrendered in a Flyers’ jersey to date.
Demidov blasts a wrist shot top-shelf for the Habs’ second power play goal of the night
With 15:57 left in the third period, Slafkovsky one-touched a pass from Hutson to the cutting Demidov in the slot, where the highly-touted Russian made no mistake in blasting the puck to the back of the net. Yes, it’s difficult to fault Vladar when one of the NHL’s top rookie snipes a wrist shot just under the cross bar. BUT, it was a clear-sighted shot that most NHL goalies should predictably stop.
Again, Vladar has started just eight games; the season is still in its VERY early stages. Let’s not forget that as recently as last season, fans could only dream of such numbers for the Flyers’ net minders. This year, one can only hope that both Vladar and Sam Ersson can keep their save percentages above .900 and give the orange and black a sliver of hope to earn a playoff spot for the first time since 2019-2020.