Boucher gets call vs. Penguins
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Boucher gets call vs. Penguins
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is staying with the hot goaltender.
Brian Boucher will start Tuesday's intriguing matchup against visiting Pittsburgh, Laviolette announced after the morning skate.
It will be the third straight start for Boucher, who is 5-3-2 with a 2.23 goals against average and .919 save percentage this year. Marc-Andre Fleury, whose strong play has keyed the Penguins' 12-game winning streak, is 14-6-1 with a 2.31 GAA and .914 save percentage.
Laviolette said he was sticking with Boucher because he was "sharp" and rested.
In his last four starts, Boucher has a 1.21 GAA and .960 save perccentage.
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After the morning skate, Pens coach Dan Bylsma said it would be a game-time decision on whether injured forwards Evgeni Malkin and Chirs Kunitz were healthy enough to play Tuesday night. Kunitz was on the regular line with Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis during the skate. Malkin wa not on a regular line, but skated with the power-play unit.
Kunitz will probably play, and Malkin is 50/50.
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Look for Chris Pronger to spend a lot of time on the ice Tuesday when Crosby's line is out there.
"I don't think we match forward lines (that much). Like I've always said, we're more concerned with our back end out there," Laviolette said. "Our back end is a unit of six who we trust. We don't have yellow flags on our bench waving to our players to signal caution at any point. We trust all of our players out there."
Asked if Pronger would get more time against Crosby, Laviolette said: "I'll probably keep the game plan out of the media. No sense broadcasting it. They've already got enough wins in the column. I'm trying to slow them down, not help them out."
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Though Pittsburgh's power play has been inconsistent lately, most of the Flyers said they have to stay out of the penalty box in order to beat the Pens. Crosby scored two PP goals in the Penguins' 5-1 win here earlier this season.
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During their 12-game winning streak, the Penguins have had the lead for 489:14, and have trailed for just 28:53.
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...and Bob starts tomorrow against the Habs— petemagoop- I know they don't want to kill Bob, and I know Boosh is hot...but if you are going to start him tonight and Bob tomorrow, can you please just trade or waive Leighton and be done with the whole 3 goalie thing. It's a waste of time. GO FLYERS!!
Comment removed.- Some of them will probably be injured soon so let's just stick with three goalies for now...— Ruffles
how quickly they forget last year, eh Ruffles?— potus- I'm excited for the game tonight. Should be a good one. LET'S GO FLYERS— kozykoz26
- Comment removed.
- We will all be reading about a stand out game by Claude Giroux tomorrow!
Go Flyers!— phoreverphilly - I cannot wait for tonight's game. Should be a good one. I hope the Flyers will put an end to the Pens' win streak!! GO FLYERS!!!— beaglemommy
- Sam Carchidi/Philly.com staff: I like reading these little articles, thanks for posting them. It's always nice reading quotes from Laviolette, no matter how repetitious they might seem -- he's great with his little comments and jabs. Reminds me a little of Pronger! Anyway, it's fun to get these "inside looks" at practice and I just wanted to say I appreciate it as a reader and fan.— halfhonk
- Too soon to trade Leighton, if thats the eventual plan. No way waive him, he does have value. Leighton plus a prospect, Zherdev, etc., may be an eventual trade deadline play, depending on injuries on both Flyers and other teams, how they are playing, needs, etc., at that time. Flyers are very deep this year and playing very steady. If they stay healthy, Leighton and/or whoever packaged could add an interesting piece at the deadline to make the push into June.— flypen
- Boucher is a great goalie, who is getting a chance to show the league how valuable he is...which probably means that he won't be a Flyer in the new year.— Hexy4GM
Boosh deserves the start...he has displayed some great goaltending in the last couple games. Would love to see a shut-out against whiners, but will settle for a win. Go Flyboys!!— dogman5- Comment removed.
- If they trade Zherdev then their Stanley Cup dreams go out the window. When your losing to Detroit 3-1 in the Finals you need a pure goal scorer to pull you out of the fire. Give the guy a chance, he already has nine goals and plays half the time of everybody else.— neddyflanders
