*Photo from the Boston Globe*
Dan Vladar was not ready in the bubble. He was not ready when Jaroslav Halak was pulled in game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the middle of a shellacking. But he endured it anyway. Now, with Tuukka Rask injured and Halak having started 4 straight games, Vladar was ready for his first NHL start. He seized his opportunity. Vladar stopped 34 shots, Trent Frederic scored the game winning goal, and the Boston Bruins topped the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 2-1 win on Tuesday night.
David Pastrnak got the scoring going for the Bruins 3:20 into the first period, with his 13th goal of the season, making it 1-0 early. Brandon Tanev tied things for the Penguins at the 15:22 mark of the first, making it a 1-1 game. It remained that way until the 3rd period, when Frederic sent a rocket into the back of the net to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead, which they held on to.
Vladar said of his first NHL win that "The whole bench. I just felt so much energy from them. Obviously, I was a little bit nervous because when you get the first start like this you want to show your best. You don't want to waste the opportunity to show what you can do. I knew how I can play, but at the same time it's not every day that can be your best day."
Frederic, a previous teammate of Vladar's, said after the game that "You could tell after the game, it meant a lot for him. He's worked a very long time, very hard. Being with him in Providence, he's always putting in the work. He's a very good kid, everyone likes him. I'm happy to call him one of my friends and it's really cool to see him work his way all the way to here and see him win."
Vladar stopped 34 shots out of 35 that came his way, including an unbelievable stick save to rob Pittsburgh's Colton Sceviour of a goal in the first period. Vladar's record became a perfect 1-0-0 this season, while Boston has a 15-8-4 record, 4th place in the NHL's East Division.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Vladar's unbelievable save that "It certainly gave the group confidence. The whole group got up. When you make a save like that, it's bound to lift the guys. I assume it made him feel pretty good. It certainly gave our guys a lift and it gave their guys something to think about when those don't go in. At the end of the day, it was a critical play in the game."
On the other side, Penguins backup Casey DeSmith got the start in net, taking a loss despite a very solid outing. DeSmith stopped 31 shots out of 33 that came his way in a solid night. His record fell to 6-3-0 this season, while Pittsburgh is in 3rd place in the East, just ahead of the Bruins, with a 18-10-1 record.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said after the game that "I was proud of the group and how hard we competed tonight. I think this group has a certain resilience to them that they show night in and night out. And that's an important attribute to have to win in this league. That's what we told them after the game. I thought we gave ourselves a chance tonight. It's unfortunate we didn't get any points out of it."
The Bruins travel to Buffalo to face the Sabres for the first time this season on Thursday night, where Halak is expected to draw the start. Pittsburgh travels to New Jersey to face the Devils on Thursday, with Tristan Jarry starting in net.
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