With apologies to Bernie Parent, Pelle Lindberg, and Ron Hextall (version 1), goaltending has tripped the Flyers up more times than a person can reasonably count throughout their history. And it’s continued that way for much of the 21st century, aside from a few regular-season bright spots from the likes of Roman Cechmanek, Steve Mason, and a few others. But now, things seem to be very different.
Beginning last year with the team’s successful one-season gamble on Dan Vladar, the Flyers’ goaltending has markedly improved, and it’s only gotten better season over season thanks to the acquisition of Joseph Woll to replace the much-maligned Sam Ersson. Vladar and Woll have both had standout games lately as the Flyers try to recover from their awful start, none of which you can lay at the feet of the netminding.
In the team’s 7-0 opening loss to Pittsburgh, the entire roster was awful, and Vladar suffered as a result, making just 31 saves on 38 shots. It didn’t help that he only played a portion of one period during the preseason, indicating that perhaps he wasn’t ready for opening night. Throw out that game, however, and he’s sporting a sterling .921 save percentage and a tidy 2.38 goals-against average in the five games since. And even with his putrid debut this season, Vladar is still on the plus side of goals saved above average on the year. He’s also added an assist after being held off the score sheet last year!
Woll, meanwhile, has been as solid as it gets over his first six starts as a Flyer. Since goaltending tends to be weird, you know a clunker is coming at some point, but Woll’s .917 save percentage, 2.64 GAA, and 4.8 goals saved above average (8th-best in the league so far) are pretty eye-opening. For a goaltender who was decidedly subpar on last year’s mess of a Maple Leafs team, his resurgence looks like another smart move that's paying off for Danny Briere and the Flyers.
It’s a good problem to have — two goalies who are functioning at a high level and pushing each other to top their most recent performance. For a team with many other areas to improve, it would be great if Rick Tocchet could continue to alternate the goalies to keep them fresh and have the team in front of them confident that all of their mistakes aren’t going to end up in the back of the net. It’s rare to say this about Flyers goaltending, but it seems very steady and dependable at the moment. You only have to look at the division-rival Rangers to see how things can change in an instant, however.
The organization still has hopes for the future tied to Carson Bjarnason and especially Yegor Zavragin, but there is absolutely no rush on that front at this time. With Vladar inked long-term and Woll signed through next season, dare we say that the team is actually comfortable in the crease for the foreseeable future? “Comfortable” should never enter the Flyers lexicon, but this is as close as you’re going to get.
Enjoy the dependable goaltending for the time being, because we’ve been waiting way too long for it. Meanwhile, if the rest of the team can continue its recent improvements, it could make for a fun hockey season after all, despite how much of a disaster it looked like until just recently.
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