Vladar's playoff shutout
- Goaltender Vladar recorded his first career playoff shutout against Pittsburgh in Game 3. (delawareonline.com) - He finished the night with 27 saves while blanking Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust in the third period. (delawareonline.com) - Local and national outlets are noting the shutout as a turning point in a high-pressure series between these rivals. (delawareonline.com)
Dan Vladar’s first career playoff shutout came in Game 2, not Game 3, and it put Philadelphia up 2-0 on Pittsburgh in the first round. (nhl.com) Vladar stopped all 27 shots in the Flyers’ 3-0 win on Monday, April 20, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Porter Martone, Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier scored for Philadelphia. (nhl.com) The National Hockey League’s official recap called it Vladar’s first playoff shutout, and the league’s video highlight used the same description. Philadelphia’s team site also described Game 2 as a 3-0 shutout. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) Game 3 was a different result. The Flyers beat the Penguins 5-2 on Wednesday, April 22, at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia to take a 3-0 series lead. (nhl.com) Trevor Zegras and Noah Cates each had a goal and an assist in Game 3, and four Flyers scored their first career playoff goals in that game. Pittsburgh’s two goals came from Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson, so it was not a shutout. (nhl.com) The shutout still changed the shape of the series because it came on the road and left Pittsburgh chasing before the matchup shifted to Philadelphia. NHL.com’s Game 3 preview noted that the Penguins had already been held to 18 shots in Game 1 and then blanked in Game 2. (nhl.com) That pressure showed up again in Game 3, when the Flyers scored three times in the second period and moved Pittsburgh to the brink of elimination. The Associated Press described Philadelphia as one win from a sweep after the 5-2 result. (nhl.com) (washingtonpost.com) So the cleanest way to understand the moment is this: Vladar’s signature night was the 27-save shutout in Game 2, and Game 3 turned that edge into a commanding 3-0 series lead. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2)
