One Tussle the Hurricanes and Flyers Can’t Ignore

What the Flyers’ Dan Vladar Is Doing Right

Vladar’s game is more low-key, but don’t mistake that for ordinary. At 5-on-5, he’s been excellent, putting up a .959 save percentage in six games. He looks steady shift to shift. He makes clean reads and simple saves made look routine.

He’s also handled volume pretty well. Philladelphia has leaned on him, and he didn’t blink. Weird angles, broken plays, and sustained pressure don’t seem to bother him. He just stays square and resets. That’s a big deal when your team isn’t always controlling the puck.

And he’s seen Carolina before, too. In two regular-season starts, he posted a .931 save percentage against them. It isn’t a huge sample, but enough to suggest he isn’t walking into the unknown.

Where Vladar Can Be Beaten

The danger for Vladar is simple: shot volume. If Carolina tilts the ice, just like they did in stretches against Ottawa, it turns into a long night. Even good goalies eventually feel it when shots keep coming, and bodies start crowding the crease.

The other area is the messy stuff — scrambles, tips, rebounds in tight. That’s where Andersen has the edge right now. Vladar has been solid, but Carolina generates enough chaos around the net that those moments matter.

Who has the edge?

If you’re splitting hairs, Andersen gets the nod. That’s mostly because of track record and how locked in he looks right now. He’s been sharper on both clean looks and the ugly ones.

But this isn’t a goalie mismatch. If the Flers can slow things down, keep shots to the outside, and avoid getting run out of their own zone, Vladar absolutely holds up his end.

In the end, this one probably isn’t decided by the players in the net. It’s decided by who controls the ice in front of them. Whoever owns the puck more is probably the one still standing when it’s over.