Boucher makes his case
Daily News Flyers blog
Boucher makes his case
ST. LOUIS -- It's amazing how just six days can put an entirely different spin on the Flyers’ goaltending situation.
Last Sunday, Johan Backlund gave up 7 goals on 20 shots in the Flyers’ final preseason tune-up to officially cement Sergei Bobrovsky in what we thought would be the backup role to Brian Boucher.
On Thursday, the 22-year-old Bobrovsky shutout Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for two periods to open the new Consol Energy Center in his NHL debut.
On Friday, the Flyers announced that supposed starter Michael Leighton will be on the shelf for at least another six weeks as a result of surgery to repair a herniated disk in his lower back.
That left Saturday night - when most expected Bobrovsky to pickup where he left off in Pittsburgh - for Brian Boucher to state his case for the starting job.
The result - a 2-1 overtime loss to the Blues in their home opener at the Scottrade Center - was not a win, but close. And Boucher left St. Louis no worse for the wear, even with a loss. He played every bit as well as new Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
“I thought he was really good,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “That last one [the game-winner in overtime] was a tough one. He was set on the first shot, we blocked it and it kicked right to someone coming in. ‘Boosh’ was great.”
It’s even possible to go as far as saying Boucher was more impressive than Halak, considering the fact that the Flyers spent nearly 14 of the game’s 60 minutes on the penalty kill.
The Flyers gave St. Louis 10 power play opportunities and Boucher kept them at bay for 9 of them. The Blues’ only goal in regulation came with a 5-on-3 advantage on the power play in the first period.
It was the most power play opportunities for a Flyers opponent since October 16, 2008 in Colorado, when they gave up 11 power play chances.
Boucher entered the game confident, despite being overlooked for the opening night start just two days earlier.
“I felt pretty good,” Boucher said. “You have to start somewhere. There were a lot of penalties, and not full power plays, too. It was a weird game. You’d get halfway through a penalty and there would be another.
“I would have liked to win. I thought I certainly played well enough to get the win.”
Danny Briere, who scored the Flyers’ lone goal, hit the cross-bar in overtime. His long rebound created an odd-man rush heading the other direction, which resulted in the game-winning goal.
“It would have been a totally different story,” Boucher said. “We could have won this game.”
Boucher said he tried not to put any extra pressure on himself, though he knew that his start would be judged against Bobrovsky’s impressive win over the Penguins. In all, Boucher stopped 23 of 25 shots.
“I need to just keep it the same as I always have in my career,” Boucher said. “My job is to give my team a chance to win, whether I get 10 starts in a row or 1 out of 10 starts. It doesn’t matter. Nothing changes on my end.
“I felt good about my camp and I just wanted to continue that.”
Now, for the third time in as many games, all eyes will be on Laviolette’s decision as to who to start when the Flyers’ Eastern Conference championship banner is unfurled on Monday night against Colorado.
Since Boucher’s play is what got the Flyers into the playoffs on that final day of the regular season - and carried them through the first round and a half - it would be fitting to have him in net for the club’s first banner unveiling since 2004.
But with Laviolette, you never know until you know.
“There’s really no need for me to compare them,” Laviolette said of his goaltenders. “Boosh was great. Both our goaltenders were great on the trip. They both played good games.”
NO FLOW ON THE MISSISSIPPI: With 10 penalty kills, there was little chance for the Flyers to get in an offensive rhythm.
That also forced Laviolette to juggle the lines. Scott Hartnell had 21 minutes in penalties, leaving a vacancy on his line for almost an entire period. James van Riemsdyk moved to play with Mike Richards and Jeff Carter while Darroll Powe skated with Claude Giroux and Nikolay Zherdev.
“There was too much specialty teams to get in that type of flow,” Laviolette said. “We lost [Hartnell] for 19 minutes, so we were filling a spot there. I thought we played our best as the game went on. The more we played, the more we took control of it.”
75-PERCENT AIN’T BAD: The Flyers picked up 3 out of 4 points on the road trip.
“It’s tough, we let a point sit here,” Laviolette said. “There was a point on the line, down 1-0 heading into the third period, and we fought like heck to get it back.”
OVERTIME BLUES: Saturday night was the Flyers’ first overtime loss to the Blues in more than 20 years (5-4 OT loss, Jan. 4, 1990). Last year, Mika Pyorala (remember him) gave the Flyers a shootout win in their only matchup with St. Louis. The Flyers had won four straight overtime decisions in a row against St. Louis before this.
CLOCK WATCH: Nearly 8 out of Darroll Powe’s 12 minutes of ice time were on the penalty kill ... Jody Shelley played just 3:11 ... Oskars Bartulis skated for 10:11, by far the least of the 6 defensemen ... Dan Carcillo played 6:24, with only 2 shifts in the 2nd period and 1 in the 3rd period.
BUMPS AND BRUISES: James van Riemsdyk appeared to get his bell rung in the third period when he was boarded from behind, head first by David Perron, who received a penalty on the play. Van Riemsdyk hung in to finish the game and said he felt fine afterwards ... Chris Pronger did not play in his first return to St. Louis as a Flyer ... Matt Walker and Andreas Nodl were healthy scratches.
Thanks to all of those who chatted with me here on Philly.com during the game.
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.
It's weird but the Richards line seems kind of inept right now. O'Donnell has been really weak - whenever we turn the puck over in our own zone it seems like it's him out there. I'm still trying to figure out how we cut Guerin but kept Shelley. Shelley. We have Jody Shelley. And so my attempts to make sense of that signing continue without success. That said, I'll be there tonight and Pronger will be on the ice. This will be nice.— elpel- Boucher certainly played well enough. It will be a time-share in net until someone gets on a hot streak they will ride that goalie. If Boucher does get on that hot streak, then all the better for the team. From all stories, he is a great teammate and in that respect he could also help mentor SpongeBob. The veteran and younger tandem may prove very useful to the franchise.
Quite a few penalties but the PK looked decent. Things will settle down as the season goes along, hopefully with both the team and the league.
Completely disagree with Carcillo on a line with Giroux and JvR. Zherdev may be the only one with enough offensive prowess to hang with Giroux. JvR appears to be planting himself in front of the net so the line does have that in-close net presence. They tried last season getting a mucker/grinder on Giroux's line and it didn't work during the regular season, I believe they tried Asham and Powe in those roles. They don't need enforcers slowing down the line. He is not a #3 center and should not have 3rd line talent around him. With a Giroux-JvR-Zherdev line, they will soon click and prove this third line is better than most teams 2nd lines.
Before demanding trades or other things, look at the contracts that are completed. Most may be one-way deals where they can't go to the minors even after placed on waivers. Some contracts may just cost too much so that other teams don't want that kind of deal, and others have no-trade/movement clauses. Argue why players got those deals to begin with, like Shelley's, but don't complain that they can't be moved without looking up the very basics of their contracts. Rotoworld.com can show the cap hit and if they have a no-trade clause.— jsgdmbnhl - I thought that Richards and Carter looked like they were getting pretty close to connecting with each other for a goal, I am curious to see if they can build their chemistry together during the next few games. I would give Rusky Bob the home opener, let him see if he can stay calm with the home crowd at a fevered pitch from the hanging of the banner. Boosh playing 1 of every 3 or 4 sounds about right, pick and choose teams he has historically played well against.— The Reddgie
Comment removed.- Hairball will be an issue again this year. In close physical games,no dicipline!Passes laterally at blue line.Cannot stay on his feet.4 mil could certainly be better spent on a real power forward!— tsunami
- MichaelZoe, I absolutely agree with changing the lines to Carter/Richards/Zerdev and JVR/Giroux/Car bomb. It may not be long before you see it too. I think a CRZ line has the potential to be as offensively potent as the Legion of Doom was. I'd look for that line to form after Christmas at the latest and it may help them power through their annual February/March slump. Car bomb would loosen up the opposition's dmen and create space/distraction around the net for JVR (who looks in his body language like a fourth year player compared to last year) and the budding offensive artist known as Giroux. Here's to hoping we see it.— Kev H
- Richards and Carter shouldn't be on the same line. Adding Bill Guerin and his missing 3 steps wouldn't help them. It has nothing to do with having a veteran leader-it's got more to do with two guys who are more comfortable at center being forced to play out of position.
— JSaq - so where are the people who said Guerin couldn't help this team? if you have an OUNCE of hockey knowledge, which most Philly only think they do, you can see that Richards/Carter need a vet leader to bring them together. Carcillo is not the answer and it's a DISGRACE that he started the season again with Richards. If nothing else, move Zherdev up to that line and Carcillo to 3rd line to protect JVR and Giroux. To keep Richards/Carter together, even move Carter to center with Richards on his wing, which worked well for Richards in the Olympics. As a side note, Mezaros looks awesome.— MichaelZoe
- Boucher's a good goalie. Not great. The whole team will look better once Pronger gets back. Refs all over the league are calling way too many penalties to start the season. That's how Bettman likes to showcase his adherence to the rules for the European audience.— HandNik
- so where are the people who said Guerin couldn't help this team? if you have an OUNCE of hockey knowledge, which most Philly only think they do, you can see that Richards/Carter need a vet leader to bring them together. Carcillo is not the answer and it's a DISGRACE that he started the season again with Richards. If nothing else, move Zherdev up to that line and Carcillo to 3rd line to protect JVR and Giroux. To keep Richards/Carter together, even move Carter to center with Richards on his wing, which worked well for Richards in the Olympics. As a side note, Mezaros looks awesome.— MichaelZoe
- Just had a gut feeling as soon as the pre gm show said he was starting i knew we wouldnt win. Its amazing that Hartnell has reverted to goon form in 2 gms. why again did we trade gagne? so walker can healthy scratch? so shelley can not get on the ice?— Onlineps2beast
4 (at least)of the ten penalty's were very light and very bad calls. They did a great job limiting quality chances....even as poorly as they played in the 1st and 2nd.- Boucher's a back-up, perhaps because he's never had a chance to start behind a good team, except for way back in his rookie season.The way the guy gets treated is ridiculous. He's a class act, hard worker and deserves better than the "fans" give him.— JSaq
- Hartnell had 21 mins of penalty time and STILL manamged to be credited with 9 falls.— LiLAlConroy
- please, please, please stop it with Boucher already!!! He is a back up goalie, always was... always will be. Hes been in this league for what? 12 yrs now... enough is enough already, let this new kid show us what he has... Enough with the "goalie situation" already!— inkd0874
- YOUR ALL MISSING THE POINT,10 PENALTY'S,THAT,S A TEAM
WITH NO DISCIPLIN— frank martino 
training camp + two regular games and Shelly looks useless. They didn't even put him out there last night when players kept running at Oskars and Briere. You can find anyone to play 3:11 and make a lot less than him.— Inchon- Bouch is a backup at best.....any long term reliance on him would be a mistake.— beefbr
- Comment removed.
