Dan Vladar’s availability for Saturday’s Game 4 was up in the air, and the Philadelphia Flyers — who lead the Pittsburgh Penguins in the series — faced a choice that could reshape this matchup: start Vladar, who earned the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the Flyers’ regular-season MVP and posted a remarkable.946 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average in the playoffs, or hand the crease to Samuel Ersson, who would lead the team out of the tunnel if Vladar missed time.
The numbers underline why the decision matters. Vladar recorded a shutout in Game 2 and has been the backbone of a team trying to protect a series lead. The Flyers went into Saturday holding that edge, while the Penguins were aiming to force the series back to Pittsburgh with Game 5 on Monday.
Only four NHL teams have ever erased a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series, and every one of those comebacks hangs over this moment. The Toronto Maple Leafs did it in 1942, the New York Islanders in 1975, the Flyers themselves pulled it off in 2010, and the Los Angeles Kings mounted the feat in 2014.
Those precedents also show how a single turning point can change everything. In the Flyers’ 2010 comeback, an open-ice hit by Mike Richards on David Krejčí in Game 3 of the Flyers-Bruins series resulted in a broken wrist for Krejčí — a development Richards’ former teammates still point to. Chris Pronger said, “(The Krejčí injury) kind of weakened their power play and weakened their second line.” Pronger added, “It created a chain of events and kind of mucked up their lineup and the way they like to roll lines, and all the rest of that.” Dan Carcillo recalled the mood after the hit: "When Richie knocked out Krejčí, then we’re just saying, ‘Oh boy, let’s f—ing go.’" The Flyers beat the Boston Bruins in the second round after storming back from a 3-0 deficit.
The Kings’ 2014 run offers another template: Marc-Edouard Vlasic took a high hit from Jarrett Stoll in Game 5 of the Kings-Sharks series that ended Vlasic’s time in that series, and Los Angeles responded by winning games 5-7 by a combined 12-2 score before going on to win the Stanley Cup. Those examples are the reason the Flyers’ current uncertainty matters beyond a single night — small breaks, or injuries, or goalie decisions have flipped entire series in the past.
That history creates tension now because Vladar’s playoff numbers make him more than a placeholder. A.946 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average are the statistical core of the Flyers’ push. Yet the team must weigh those numbers against the immediate reality that his status was unresolved heading into Game 4. If Vladar cannot play, Ersson would get the start and the Flyers would ask a young goaltender to hold a fragile lead under historic pressure.
The narrower question for the Flyers is not whether comebacks have happened — they have, four times — but whether anything in this series tips it toward one side. The Penguins are fighting to keep the series alive for Game 5 on Monday. The Flyers, meanwhile, must decide whether to lean on the hot hand that produced a Game 2 shutout and season-long MVP recognition, or to pivot and hope a change at goalie stabilizes them.
The most consequential unanswered fact as Saturday approaches is simple and immediate: will Dan Vladar dress? If he does, the Flyers keep their best statistical protector in net for a night that could determine whether this series slips into the rare company of 3-0 comebacks or stays locked in Philadelphia’s favor. If he does not, the lineup change hands the narrative — and a chance at history — to Samuel Ersson and the Penguins aiming to send the series back to Pittsburgh.
