The starts have been few and far between for Dan Vladar recently.
And after a tough showing in his last game between the pipes, there was surely some added pressure on the Calgary Flames shot-stopper heading into Sunday night’s matchup with the Seattle Kraken.
He responded with a solid performance as he turned away 29-of-31 shots and helped the Flames hold on to a big 3-2 win in their second game of a back-to-back.
It was Vladar’s first win since December 10 and a reminder that even if Dustin Wolf has claimed the starter’s job as his own this season, the Flames do still have another option who can win them games. Wolf can’t play every night, after all.
“It means a lot,” Vladar told Sportsnet post-game. “Wolfie’s been playing unbelievable but I don’t think I’ve won a game since … early-December, so two months, that’s crazy. I’m really happy for this win and obviously I like playing Seattle, so happy for that. Great team effort.”
The Flames needed Vladar to come up big on Sunday. They’d gotten into Seattle in the wee hours of the morning after a tough loss to the Detroit Red Wings at the Saddledome on Saturday night.
Nobody used fatigue as an excuse, but it was understandable that they seemed to fade a bit as the game wore on.
Fortunately, their goalie came up with clutch saves when he was called-upon and a hot start was enough to carry them through.
First period goals from newcomer Morgan Frost – acquired in last week’s trade with the Philadelphia Flyers – and two power-play markers from Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich opened up a comfortable early lead for the Flames.
It was all they’d wind up needing, but just barely, as Kappo Kakko and Brandon Tanev did get the Kraken back in the game.
But from there, Vladar did what was needed, earning the Flames a win that pulls them to within one point of the Los Angeles Kings, who sit in third place in the Pacific Division, and pushes them two ahead of the Vancouver Canucks – who lost in overtime to the Red Wings – in the Wild Card race.
“(Vladar’s) been good this whole time,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska told reporters in Seattle. “We talked earlier in the year about both our goaltenders being very good for us. Wolfie’s had the bulk of the starts over the last little while but I do feel like Vladdy’s been a real pro with it.
“We challenged him yesterday to make sure he was the difference for us tonight and he most definitely was.”
Here’s three takeaways from Sunday’s game:
1. OFF THE MARK
In Saturday’s loss to the Red Wings, Frost had a couple moments that must have made Flames fans raise their eyebrows in excitement. The guy’s got skills.
On Sunday, he added a little finish to that flash, scoring his first goal in a Flames uniform to open the scoring.
It was a pretty one, too, as he collected the puck just outside the Kraken blue-line and cut through the defence before firing it in past Joey Daccord.
“I had a chance in the first period with a wide-open net and missed that one so it was nice to get that first one,” Frost told reporters.
Playing on a line with Yegor Sharangovich and Martin Pospisil, the early returns on Frost have certainly been encouraging. He’s got serious abilities on the puck and seems to be the team’s best faceoff option, too, winning eight of the 13 that he took on Sunday.
Sharangovich collected a goal and an assist, as well, while Pospisil was credited with a helper.
2. ABOUT THAT START
It’s pretty obvious that any team would be happy to be up 3-0 at the first intermission. That’s a great period of hockey.
But for the Flames, it was actually pretty unusual way to start a game.
Sunday marked only the second time the Flames have scored three goals in the first period of a game this season. They’ve only managed to score twice in the opening frame on two other occasions, and they remain tied for last in the NHL in first period goals with 33.
With travel issues delaying the team’s arrival in Seattle until around 3 a.m. and the group playing a second game in just 24 hours, everyone had to be aware that fatigue was going to be an issue in the later stages against the Kraken.
They needed a hot start and they got one.
3. STAYING HOT
For the season as a whole, the Flames power-play remains middle-of-the-pack across the NHL.
But it’s been pretty good lately. With two goals on the man-advantage against the Kraken, the Flames power-play has now scored in five of the team’s last six games. They’ve gone 7-for-19 in that stretch, good for a 36.8% conversion rate, which is fourth in the NHL around that stretch.
It’s also worth remember that while the Flames may have an average power-play for the season as a whole – 22.2%, which is 15th in the league – they had the seventh-worst PP unit over their first 20 games of the season.
In the 32 games they’ve played since, their power-play has been converting on 26.4% of their opportunities, which is eighth-best in the NHL over that stretch.