Flyers goalie Dan Vladař misses practice after suffering apparent injury late in Game 3
Vladař has been superb against the Penguins, but he appeared to hurt his hand or arm Wednesday. Coach Rick Tocchet said the goalie "feels better today. That’s basically all the information we have.”
Less than 24 hours after taking a three-games-to-none lead in their Eastern Conference first-round matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers were back on the ice for practice Thursday in Voorhees.
Everyone was accounted for, except defenseman Cam York, forward Owen Tippett, and goalie Dan Vladař.
Tippett has been banged up for quite some time and in and out of practices recently, and coach Rick Tocchet revealed Tuesday that York took “a shot to the ribs.” Both played Wednesday, with Tippett scoring an empty-netter to seal the 5-2 victory, and Tocchet said on Thursday that both had maintenance days.
The question marks, however, swirl around Vladař. In the third period, he took a knee to the hand or arm from Bryan Rust as the Penguins forward tried to cut across the crease during a power play. Vladař immediately appeared to be in pain after losing his blocker and was seen flexing his hand while being checked by the Flyers’ head athletic trainer, Tommy Alva. But he stayed in the game.
“He’s banged up,” Tocchet said postgame. “We’ll see how he is [Thursday]. But yeah, I don’t know at this moment how bad it is.”
When asked after practice about the goalie, Tocchet was guarded with his response.
“It’s more of a maintenance day,” he said. “He was probably going to be off anyway. But he is a little banged up. Feels better today. That’s basically all the information we have.”
Signed as a free agent on July 1, Vladař has been the Flyers’ mainstay in net this season. He went 29-14-7 with a 2.42 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage across 52 games in the regular season. Twelve of those wins came during the Flyers’ post-Olympic push, when he posted a 2.34 GAA and a .908 save percentage.
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In the postseason, Vladař has been stellar with a 1.33 GAA, a .946 save percentage, and his first postseason shutout in Game 2.
If he cannot go Saturday in Game 4 at Xfinity Mobile Arena (8 p.m., NBCSP, TBS, truTV, HBO Max), Sam Ersson would take the net and make his Stanley Cup playoff debut. Ersson had an up-and-down season but turned things around post-Olympics as well, going 6-1-0 with a 1.99 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
“I feel like I’m in a good spot with my game,” Ersson said. “Obviously, it helps, stringing wins together, makes you feel better and better about your game. So obviously, it helps a little bit.
“I knew I had to take a step up from how I was playing,” he said. “Trying to do my best to kind of contribute, and we knew every point during that stretch mattered, right? It was very important.”
Tocchet has been impressed by Ersson’s mental and physical game since the Olympic break and has confidence in his netminder.
“I’ll tell you, the Montreal game, going in there, we have half of Lehigh,” Tocchet said of the season finale that saw several players from the American Hockey League skate, which the Flyers won, 4-2.
“Him going in, people were thinking we were throwing him to the wolves. He was really good. So, I’m not really worried if he had to play, I really wouldn’t. He’s locked in, even today in practice. If his number’s called, he’ll be ready to go.”
Flyers lead series 3-0
Game 1: Flyers 3, Penguins 2 | Sielski: Kids stand tall
Game 2: Flyers 3, Penguins 0 | Sielski: Stealing Pens' will
Game 3: Flyers 5, Penguins 2 | Sielski: Shades of glory days
Game 4: Penguins at Flyers, 8 p.m. Saturday, NBCSP/TBS/truTV/HBO MAX
*Game 5: Flyers at Penguins, Monday (Time TBD)
*Game 6: Penguins at Flyers, Wednesday (Time TBD)
*Game 7: Flyers at Penguins, May 2 (Time TBD)
*if necessary