Columbus: The Flyers got some good news on the injury front Wednesday in Columbus. Injured goaltender Dan Vladar was activated from injured reserve.
Vladar, who has missed the past six games due to a lower-body injury, will make his first start since January 14th tonight against the Blue Jackets.
During the six games Vladar has missed, the Flyers had an up and down road. One that saw them drop out of a playoff spot as their 2-3-1 record was not enough to keep up with the strong Eastern Conference.
Samuel Ersson made five of the six starts in Vladar’s absence, finishing with a 2-2-1 record.
His play improved in the latter half of the six games, especially on the Flyers three game road trip. Finishing the road trip with a 2-0-1 record with wins over Vegas and Colorado.
Aleksei Kolosov lasted just 8:21 and made zero saves in his lone start.
With Vladar now back in the fold, the Flyers sent Aleksei Kolosov back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Flyers hope he can regain some confidence in the AHL after his struggles.
When answering a question about Ersson playing much better when his starts come more frequently, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet finally said the quiet part out load. Mentioning that Vladar is the Flyers number one goalie.
“Vladdy, there’s been times where he’s been on a roll. You know, it’s hard not to, you know your number one goalie. You got to get him out there,” Tocchet said.
While Tocchet hasn’t said it on the record before, the obvious sediment was Vladar was acting as the Flyers number one. Now, with his head coach on record, the Flyers will move forward leaning heavily on Vladar, especially if they want to get back into the playoff race.
Ersson will still be relied on in the latter part of the season. He is expected to start tomorrow night in Boston in the second half of the back to back.
He may also get another start before the Olympic break. It would not be smart for the Flyers to start Vladar four times in eight days returning from injury.
