Bob should stay put - for now
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Bob should stay put - for now
UNIONDALE, NY -- How can Peter Laviolette do anything else but keep riding the hot hand?
Sergei Bobrovsky was sensational in goal during Thursday’s 3-2 win over the New York Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum.
It was his second straight start and second consecutive stellar performance. Bobrovsky also was in goal for Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Carolina.
“I thought Bob was terrific,” Laviolette said.
So did his teammates.
The tone was set early when Bobrovsky stopped a penalty shot by Michael Grabner just 2:49 into the game.
“I thought that was huge,” said Wayne Simmonds, who scored the Flyers second goal. “Grabner is a good player and scores a lot of goals and Bob was really composed and I thought he made a huge save and that just gave us confidence.”
By the way, according to Flyers public relations statistical guru Brian Smith, it was Bobrovsky’s first career save of a penalty shot after previously being 0-for-3.
Actually, there was another save in the second period on Grabner that was even more impressive, when Bobrovsky snared a backhander.
Everybody knows that Ilya Bryzgalov has the nine-year, $51 million contract, and nobody expects him to have an extended stay on the bench, but right now Bobrovsky is giving the Flyers no choice but to keep him in goal.
This is not exactly earth-shattering advice or going out on the limb. It’s simply common sense. Bobrovsky is playing well and really has been all season.
The Flyers have to feel good about having a goalie that they know they can not only win with, but who can win them games when they aren’t at their best.
Laviolette never likes to announce any lineups until the day of the game and even then it doesn’t always happen.
Still, it would be a surprise if Bobrovsky isn’t in goal on Saturday.
He has yet to start three games in a row this season, although Bobrovsky appeared in three consecutive games, one in relief of Bryzgalov and the other two starts, all in November.
It’s now just past the midway point of the season. There is plenty of time to get Bryzgalov back into the swing. It’s just that now isn’t the time with the way Bobrovsky is performing.
Bob has looked really good, he looks very composed. His angles are really good, rebound control is on point as well. Bryz has to be sweatin!— shanehockey28- Bob has started 14 games and is 10-3-1, giving up 5 goals twice, both times to Winnipeg.
Bryz has started 28 games, is 16-9-3 and has givien up 4 or more goals 12 times!!! Bob gave up 4 or more goals 9 times in 52 starts last year & still had a much better gaa and sv&.
2 of Bob's 3 losses were to the Rangers, the top team in the NHL, and he played well both times...if you tossed his two 5 goal games he would be in the top 5 in sv% and gaa.
just saying...bryz is terrible
— tkohl 
Bob made many great saves tonight and on a spectacular save, the TV camera turned to Ilya Bryzgalov for a face shot and he was expressionless, while the rest of the team was excited by the save and cheered Bob on to motivate him even more- not Bryzgalov! He is all about himself and let's face it- he has been brutal in goal. Bob flows side to side with his stick on the ice to protect the five hole and other angles. Bryzgalov aka Goofy is always pulling his stick off the ice and cheap passes and shots get in on him. look at the tapes and see for yourself. I say drop him via trade - there are suckers in the NHL that will gladly trade for him.- The Penguins put Steve MacIntyre on waivers. Get rid of Shelly and get this Real tough heavyweight on this team for cheap!
- Only way Bryz is gone will be through the rumored amnesty clause. Let's hope this comes to fruition. Bob is our future goalie.— dave1walsh
- Settle down, guys. It's true Bob has the hot hand now: no question there. It's equally true IMO that with a $51M contract, Bryz is going nowhere for the time being. I'd suggest giving Bob the start in N'ville on Saturday, and a rest when the team returns home against the Wild. Ideally that would motivate Bryz to the point where Laviolette is faced with the same pleasant dilemma that the Blues' coach faced back in '67-'68: namely, whether to start Jacques Plante or Glenn Hall. Having two goalers in whom the team has confidence can't hurt.— 1940LaSalle
- Bob overcame the same crappy excuses people use to defend Bryz: deflections, sloppy D, bad bounces, deflections, etc. All of that occurred the past two nights and yet Bob was able to bail the team out.— philly57
- The biggest thing I noticed was Bob's reaction after that spectacular save on Grabner. He was smiling ear-to-ear - he was having fun. Having fun = confidence. Bob has it right now, Bryz doesn't. Philly57 is absolutely right. Remember that shot from the point that was deflected, bounced off the ice, came back up, and Bob still stopped it? Or how about the fact that Bob straight up robbed Grabner on that penalty shot, which lets be honest has never been Bob's strong suit.
People forget that Bob was a rookie last year, yet he was pretty darn impressive. All he needs is time.— jpatt6 - The tell all stat for a goaltender is save percentage. Bryz's save percentage is aweful. Bob's save percentage is very respectable. Bryz should be on the bench until he figures things out. Just to offer a glimmer of hope, remember when the Flyers came back on the Bruins in the playoffs? Tuuka Rask was the Bruins' goalie, not Tim Thomas. In fact, the Bruins were desparately trying to trade Thomas before last season. All of a sudden, Thomas figured it out and had himself quite a year. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Bryz could bounce back the same way that Thomas bounced back.
- Bryz said the Universe is round.— neddyflanders
- Gord - Thomas was hurt. Bid difference.— delcofan
- Everyone things are going well in FLYERS LAND right now! BOB is playing great even stole us the game last night as far as Iam concerned! BRY should get some games in soon we really need to find out if he is able to get his act together. I still say he needs 10 games and if he still isn't playing like a No. 1 goalie you go with BOB! but at 51 Million say you have to give Bry another 10 games to prove he is our No.1 goalie. We all know BOB can play lights out but he can also get lost! We need BOB to stay sharp right now he is betrter than sharp he is hotter than H3ll. LETS GO FLYERS— srcdaddy1216
- tkohl: Good analysis, but let me finish it by emphasizing the quality of the teams he has played overall. In short, of the 17 games he has played, only 6 were against teams that would make the playoffs if they started today. He has only beaten one team in the top 10 in the league (Ottawa) and has only beaten two teams in the top 1/2 of the league (Ottawa and Dallas).
Perhaps most telling: Bob has only two wins against playoff teams, and those two wins were his first two starts of the season back in October!!!! In other words:
BOB HAS NOT BEATEN A PLAYOFF TEAM SINCE OCTOBER 24TH!
I point this out because, while Bob is playing very well, he has faced little of what he will see come playoffs and he has not proven that he can steal those games. It is one thing to steal a game or two against the worst two teams in the conference with horrible offenses, it is a completely different story to do it against the league's best under the pressure of the playoffs. Let's see if Bob can do it. - Time to suck it up and be the team with the 51 million dollar back up. Whatever it takes to win.— Flyers2822
- All I can say is- good thing Mr Snider is loaded and willing to pony up for a Cup. Probably going to cost him $15 mil this summer to dump Bryz to a team desparate to stay above the salary basement rule.
BOB Rocks!— GNIKGNARLY
