Bright: Bobrovsky Is The Flyers’ Best Goalie
In a world in which money equals expectation and investment influences tough decisions, the Flyers are struggling within themselves to find the path to goaltending righteousness.
With a magnifying glass on their seemingly cursed goalie situation, do they keep trying to kick start struggling Ilya Bryzgalov by shoe-horning him into chances? Or do they give second-year goalie Sergei Bobrovsky an opportunity to steal the starting job?
Earning one-goal wins in back-to-back games this week, Bobrovsky has made that decision easier for his club. Despite kicking the beehive of controversy, he has proven to be the go-to guy.
With a penalty shot save on Micheal Grabner in the first period of Thursday’s 3-2 win over the New York Islanders, followed by a filthy glove save on Grabner again on a breakaway midway through the second, Bobrovsky solidified his spot as the goalie the Flyers can lean on the most.
He also has the numbers in his corner.
In his last five games, Bobrovsky is 4-1, with his only loss coming in the Winter Classic to the New York Rangers. During that span, the Russian has given up just nine goals, keeping the opposition under three scores in four of the five.
He is 10-3 on the season with wins over Dallas, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Ottawa, giving him as many as Buffalo’s Ryan Miller, Vancouver’s Cory Schneider and Jaroslav Halak. Two of his three losses this season came at the hands of the Rangers, who scored a combined five goals.
Bobrovsky has a .921 save percentage and 2.42 goals against average, sandwiching him between Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff and Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom. He can’t speak Englsh, so he doesn’t talk to the media, he’s the first one on the ice at practice working individually with goalie coach Jeff Reese and his teammates never fail to link the name “Bobrovsky” with the word “work.“
The case has been made and the evidence presented for the Flyers to run with Bobrovsky, starting with Saturday night’s game against the Nashville Predators. It would be the third-consecutive start for the 23-year-old, who might not give the Flyers a 40-save shutout. But he will give them a better chance to win.
And that’s what really counts in the goaltending game.
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