Stumbling to the Finish

A little while ago, Matt Carle made a comment about how every season has its ups and downs, and those momentum swings don't change in a day. The good news is that the Flyers seem to be crawling out of their lull, picking up 11 out of 14 possible points and notably playing with more passion the last two games.

The bad news is the goaltending. Surprise!! Who would've ever guessed entering the season with two career backups and a 22-year old rookie who went 9-22 in Russia last year might cause some problems??

I said in the past that I was looking for shutouts this season as a sign when a goalie is putting in extraordinary performances. Well, as of now, the Flyers are the only team in the league without a shutout this season. Because everyone is thinking it, only twice have teams won the cup without earning a shutout, both coming during the high-scoring 80s.

I keep wanting to support Bobrovsky, seeing his abilities, but too often he looks a little overwhelmed in there, reacts slowly and has bad stretches during games. My initial thoughts on him, that he gets 'small' on long shots and is uncomfortable with the puck in close and around the net, haven't changed since October.

Then there's Boucher. A vet who is capable of playing great for stretches of a few weeks, he still tends to get overactive in net and is prone to the bad goal. If I had to choose a goalie for the playoffs right now, Boucher would still be my guy, though it appears Laviolette has been leaning towards Bobrovsky. I also have to admit that Boucher's performance in the shootout last night was maybe the worst I have ever seen (it's miraculous that the Flyers entered the playoffs last year based on a shootout victory with Boucher in net on the last day of the season).

While the Flyers goalies flail, two other names have to be mentioned.

-Ray Emery just was just named one of the 3 stars of the week, winning two games and giving up one goal in each. I previously wrote he could have been a low-risk, high-reward gamble for the Flyers.

-Michael Leighton's stats seem to indicate that he is playing well in the AHL. He is 9-11 with a .921 save percentage (his teammate, Johan Backlund, is 8-15 with a .886 save percentage).

So should the Flyers recall Leighton now? I wouldn't rule it out, but it's not going to happen yet. Calling up Leighton would be an act of desperation and giving up on either Bobrovsky or Boucher. The Flyers will give them at least a few more starts, but then the question has to be asked, will it be too late to get Leighton into the team for the playoffs? Maybe.

I am under no delusions about Leighton being more than a journeyman goalie, but that doesn't mean he's not the best of the 3 poor options. What is certain right now, is that neither Boucher's nor Bobrovsky's current level of play is good enough to sustain a deep playoff run.