Philadelphia Flyers' Chances of Winning Are Not with Sergei Bobrovsky

The Philadelphia Flyers have been in a tailspin for quite some time now. It's been a unhealthy mix of no offense trumped by many games lacking quality goaltending.

Sergei Bobrovsky took the Flyers and fans by storm early this season, showing flashes of brilliance and a superior calm. But over the last 20 games he has played, his goaltending has not helped the Flyers' cause.

Going into Game 2 of the opening-round series with the Buffalo Sabres, Philly had to feel pretty good about how Bobrovsky played in Game 1. He allowed one goal in another losing effort.

But that feeling was quickly removed when the rookie allowed three goals on seven shots, which got him pulled in favor of Brian Boucher.

Boucher came in and did a commendable job, allowing only one goal over the final two periods of play to get the Flyers even in the series with the Buffalo Sabres.

Unfortunately for Bobrovsky, this may be the nail in the coffin for his playoffs this season.

But the Flyers and the faithful fans have a lot to look forward to from a 22-year-old goaltender. The rigors of a long schedule, playing games night in and night out, may have just finally caught up with him.

But for the Flyers to move on to the second round, I think the smart money lies on playing the cagey veteran Brian Boucher. While probably not high on the list of goaltenders one would like to have as a starter, Boucher has played in 35 postseason games and has both a decent goals-against-average and save percentage in those games.

The Flyer forwards need to not be worrying about who's in net. And as the game opened up offensively yesterday, so did the forwards. They played a much more free-wheeling game in Game 2, opposed to Game 1, where offensive chances were very few.

I fully expect to see coach Peter Laviolette go to Boucher for Game 3 in hopes of stabilizing that aspect of the Flyers game.

Either way, this may turn out to be a series for the ages.

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