Nobody blamed Dan Vladar for allowing eight goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning last week.
There was blame to go around for that one, but the Calgary Flames all repeatedly talked about how they’d hung their goaltender out to dry. There’s only so much a goalie can do.
Unsurprisingly, though, Vladar was still pretty unhappy about his performance in the immediate aftermath of the loss last Thursday. An injury that sidelined him over the weekend probably didn’t help his mood.
Back at practice on Monday morning, though, Vladar had put the game in the past, where it belongs.
“No one is happy, especially right after the game, you feel like the worst person in the world,” Vladar said. “You can’t even look in anyone’s eyes, you feel like everyone is judging you or mad at you.
“Then, you go home and you cuddle with your dog and spend time with your family and you wake up the next morning and all you can do is go back out there and do your best because if you think about it too much, it’s going to drag you down, for sure.”
To Vladar’s credit, he doesn’t seem to have allowed one bad game to drag him down. He took a couple days off to deal with a lower-body injury, but said Monday that he’s back to normal and feeling just as good as he was a week ago.
And he’s moved past Thursday’s game, just like the rest of the Flames, who bounced back with a highly impressive 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night with Dustin Wolf in net.
The team in general had been slipping defensively in the couple weeks before Saturday’s game, and that had translated into some difficult starts for its two goaltenders.
Vladar had allowed three goals against the Nashville Predators on December 10, four against the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 5, posted a shutout against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 3 and allowed six against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 30.
But there were a lot of games in that stretch where the Flames in front of him had given up far too many Grade A chances. The blame didn’t lie solely at Vladar’s feet, not by a long shot.
The game against the Lightning was the team’s worst of the year, though, and it was important to move on quickly.
“He has a bad night he’s not happy, he’s fiery at the end of the night, but if you would see him in the morning it’s just another day,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “That’s one of the best qualities or characteristics a player can have, especially a goaltender, just being able to move on and look forward to what’s coming next.”
In all likelihood, it will be Wolf in net on Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins, who happen to be Vladar’s old team. The Flames have been rotating their two goaltenders, but posting a shutout earns them a second-straight start.
Vladar will be back between the pipes soon enough, though, and he’ll do what he can to further ensure any lingering memory of Thursday’s difficult game fade further and further into the background.
“It’s just one bad day for everyone, the sun still comes out every single day,” Vladar said. “I obviously went through the game, I watched video of all the goals and all the situations, all the saves, all the goals and try to learn from that.
“I can take it, I’m a man, I know how it works, I’ve been in the league for a while. The only thing I can do is focus on the next game and get better every single practice.”