‘He Was Our Smelling Salts ‘: Vladar Makes the Difference in Flyers 4-1 Win vs. Predators

The Philadelphia Flyers came away with a 4-1 win against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, despite it not being the prettiest game at times. Dan Vladar is a big reason for that.

Right out of the gate, the Flyers were being dramatically outshot. In the first period alone, Nashville outshot the Flyers 10-3, dominating the first frame. It was at that point that the Predators started to look dangerous, testing Vladar early.

In the second period, Nashville again had a drastically higher shot total, outshooting the Flyers 14-8. At one point in the second period, the Predators had a total of 19 shots in the game, compared to the Flyers’ four.

Vladar hung in there, despite being bombarded by shots. He was making save after save, keeping the game scoreless for the Flyers.

He finished the game stopping 32 of Nashville’s 33 shots, tying his most saves in a single game so far this season.

Head coach Rick Tocchet said that really woke the team up. He described Vladar’s performance as smelling salts for the team. “He was our smelling salts, waking us up,” Tocchet said.

Vladar played exceptionally well, doing everything he could to keep the Flyers in a position to win the game, even when the team was not generating offense.

Jamie Drysdale, one of Thursday’s three goal-scorers, credits Vladar for keeping them in the game. “To be honest, it was a pretty ugly game. Vladar made some unbelievable saves, really kept us in it,“ Drysdale said. He would go on to describe the team’s goaltending as “The backbone of our team right now.”

Vladar had not played in a week as Sam Ersson picked up the previous two starts. With Ersson now on injured reserve, Vladar will get the bulk of the work, with Aleksei Kolosov backing him up.

Read More: Flyers Place Sam Ersson on IR, Recall Aleksei Kolosov

Vladar Talks Big Night

Vladar faced a lot of shots early in the game, specifically in the first period. After not playing for a week, it can be hard when facing plenty of shots early. However, Vladar said he appreciated getting to work right away, not easing into the action.

“It’s nicer than facing one or two shots to have a little more work,” Vladar said.

When asked how he stayed fresh in that week off, Vladar gave a lot of credit to Kim Dillabaugh, the Flyers’ goalie coach. Vladar said the time off didn’t make him worry about losing his groove, saying, “That’s why we have Dilly (Dillabaugh). It was actually nice to spend some time with him. You know, if you’re playing, you don’t get as much time. It was really nice to have a couple of skates with him… so I actually felt better than before.”

In his six starts to begin his Flyers career, Vladar has yet to allow more than two scores in a game. His night on Thursday improved his GAA to 1.67 and his SV% to .939. That’s obviously a pretty good start.

When asked about where his confidence is after his start, Vladar said, “I feel pretty confident, but it’s the NHL, you never know, so you have to stay humble all of the time.” Following that, the goalie said the biggest thing for the team is to bring in the points, and try not to let himself get too high from the confidence, and keep working hard.

Goaltending was a serious issue for the Flyers last season, but Vladar has come in and provided a spark for the Flyers early in the season.

Read More: Flyers Keep Foot on the Gas, Close 4-1 Win vs. Nashville Out With a Strong Third Period