Vladar suffers arm injury vs. Bruins, listed as day-to-day

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar will apparently not miss significant time after sustaining an apparent injury to his right arm in Tuesday night's 5-1 preseason loss to the Bruins in Boston.

He's officially listed as "day-to-day" by a franchise which notoriously keeps things close to the vest.

Vladar, who started the Flyers' second exhibition contest in as many nights and was scheduled to play the first 2 periods, was forced to leave the game with roughly 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the opening stanza. During a sequence in the Bruins offensive zone, Vladar appears to be run into by B's forward Tanner Jeannot, after which he visibly holds his right arm at his side.

Seconds later, the Bruins scored the first goal of the contest and Vladar was replaced by Alexei Kolosov for the remainder of the contest. 

Following the game, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said there was no update on Vladar's status, only that he was "being evaluated" by team staff. 

Obviously they "dodged a bullet," as Tocchet said when he kicked off a post-practice update among reporters on Wednesday afternoon. 

"He's day-to-day," Tocchet admitted. "He's in good spirits today."

When asked if Vladar would be OK to play in next Wednesday's season opener vs. the Penguins, Tocchet deferred to his opening quote. 

"Could be 48 hours or 72. I don't know," he added.

Vladar suffered a similar injury during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins when Pens forward Bryan Rust tried a similar strafing run through the crease in what ended up a 5-2 Flyers win. 

Vladar did not miss another minute for the entire series and a subsequent loss in the East semis to the Carolina Hurricanes, but the nature of the injury was not disclosed by the team during the playoff run, nor did Vladar elaborate during break-up day in May. 

At that time, he only told the assembled media contingent that the injury would not affect his pending off-season routine.

In large part due to the failure of Sam Ersson to make an impression, this summer Flyers GM Danny Briere traded for Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Joe Woll -- who filled in admirably 2 seasons ago with nominal starter Anthony Stolarz on the shelf -- who might be called upon in relief.

"The one thing we're lucky (about) is, he has an intelligent mind," Tocchet said of Woll. "He studies, even our (penalty kill) and stuff like that. I think he knows how important he is and that he's going to play some games for us."

Tocchet also said he'd be "very comfortable" with Woll stepping in should he need to begin the season in net and play more than originally thought, also admitting that former Leafs head coach Craig Berube spoke highly of Woll. 

"We're in good shape with that."

For Woll's part, he was very much understated in his own comments after workouts.

"I think I've proven that I can do that in my career," Woll offered when asked if he was ready to take the reins if needed, from the start of the season. 

"My goal from the start with this team has been to help out wherever I can -- whatever situation that means," he added. "It doesn't really change my process day-to-day or my mindset."

Woll called the acclimatization process with the Flyers "fun challenges" 

The club officially opens the regular season one week from today, at home against the Penguins.

The Flyers have two preseason games remaining, both on home ice, vs. Boston on Thursday night and vs. Washington on Saturday evening.