For the second straight night, the Philadelphia Flyers dressed a clearly-deficient lineup compared to the club they were facing.
And for the second straight night, the Flyers were blown out in preseason action.
In fairness to the Flyers, this one wasn’t a blowout for most of the contest; in fact, the score was tied through 45 minutes of play. Then, the lineup disparity and the fatigue of playing in back-to-back games (with travel) caught up with them, as the Boston Bruins piled on four third period goals en route to a 5-1 victory.
The outcome, of course, matters little. The Flyers will almost certainly dress far better lineups in front of their home crowd on Thursday and Saturday in their final preseason games. What matters much more, however, is the status of presumptive No. 1 goalie — and 2025-26 team MVP — Dan Vladar.
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9 Comments (7 conversations)
Warren Broudy
Why don’t we have a better third goalie than kolosov? No matter who the gm is it seems to be an issue .
Andrew Fernandes
The answer is pretty simple, for a long time they have struggled with a legitimate #1 let alone #2 or #3 goalie. Add in that when Carter Hart got suspended that set them back significantly.
The fact that they have a decent tandem now is a huge step in the right direction and the FO is making a concerted effort to build the pipeline. They just need to continue using at least a mid round pick every 1-2 years to sustain it.
luketd
shit many teams dont have a good backup goalie. The crop of good goalies are getting smaller each season
jimmyb
I’m sure many saw Rod Brind’Amour’s recent comments on the preseason: “I’d say go to 86 games and zero preseason. Why waste games on the fans that don’t count? Let’s play the ones for real.” I agree, and would add needless injuries to the list of reasons. Lots of bubble/AHL guys throwing hits on veterans to try to impress coaches…I’ve been watching these guys just hoping for key Flyers guys to not get hurt, and obviously that isn’t going well. If Vladar’s shoulder is dislocated, he’s going to be out for months.
superunoriginal
So goes Dan Vladar, so go the Flyers. Heck of a thing for a guy who was signed as a UFA to a two-year contract last year. I didn’t think he could replicate last year’s performance, but being a stabilizing force in net and for the defense and team as a whole…well, that was one of the intangibles he brought. Like an ace in baseball–you know the guy is going to likely give you a quality start–all you need to do is score a few runs.
Without him, the Flyers struggle on defense and lose a lot of that confidence. Hoping it’s not serious and he comes back soon.
Marc
Put me in the camp of playing Jiricek the first 20 games on 3rd pair before re-assessing. He looks like he’s playing to make the team – pressing, trying to do too much. Let him settle in and clean some things up. There is plenty there that warrants keeping him. This preseason is too short and the small sample we often bring up.
hg88
I thought Bump looked good in both games. Clearly an NHLer. Knuble played well too. Knuble may have popped more. Maybe because more is expected of Bump than Knuble, Knuble is looking better. In my eyes, there isn’t a great deal of difference there. They both look better than the minor leaguers playing for either team. The both looked better than an Grundström as well.
ifollowcharlieo
Jiricek was a lock to make the 2026-2027 NHL roster once it was clear he could play OK in the AHL in 2025-2026. They’re going to give him a shot to see if he can outplay his mistakes, and they would be crazy not to give his shot a shot.
I don’t know what happens after the first 1/4 of the season, but he plays 20-25 for sure if he hustles. He is hustling, so far.
I still love the swing. I’m a big Brink fan, but he was an asset we needed to move to try to get better. As it turns out, Knuble might be a great Brink replacement.
Randy
Jamie Drysdale needed to learn to play hockey when he came to Philly. Surely, they can do something with Jiricek to solve at least some of the issues; he certainly has some tools.