As of late, Flyers’ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has made his bid that he deserves to be the starter for this team. Thursday night’s victory was truly a statement win for Bob as he completely shut down the New York Islanders. It was not the first strong performance for Bobrovsky as he has shown consistent play at a spectacular level over a long stretch of opportunities. While there had been plenty of debate over who Peter Laviolette should go with in net, it is now clear that Bobrovsky has the hot hand over Ilya Bryzgalov and would be the right choice to start right now.
With that being said, let’s not count out Bryz. It may be extremely wise for Coach Laviolette to keep platooning his goaltenders.
The NHL Playoffs are arguably the most demanding and exhausting tournament in all of sports. The 82 game regular season is tough enough, topping it off with the possibility of another 28 games for a playoff run is insanity. It takes a lot out of players, most especially goalies, to fight injury and fatigue in order to maintain a high level of play.
By platooning his goaltenders, Laviolette should be able to keep both healthy and rather well rested for a playoff run. Whether it’s Bobrovsky remaining hot through April or Bryzgalov who turns his play around, both these guys should be ready to go come playoff time. Let’s face it, a hot goaltender will make or break a team’s chances in the NHL Playoffs.
Just take a look back at successful teams from recent memory that have utilized this strategy. Last year saw the Boston Bruins ride on the superhuman play of their netminder, Tim Thomas, to win the Stanley Cup. During the regular season, Thomas split off the work load to his backup Tuukka Rask for 29 games
Or how about the 201o Stanley Cup run by the Flyers? A similar situation of goaltenders splitting time. Most of the miracle-making late season effort was shared between Brian Boucher and rookie Michael Leighton. Leighton was not even called up until December, after both Boucher and Ray Emery were scratched out with injuries.
The NHL season and playoffs are brutal and demanding. Obviously, Sergei Bobrovsky will put the Flyers in the best position to win right now, but let’s not completely erase Illya Bryzgalov as an asset to the Flyers’ winning equation. Hopefully, Peter Laviolette will keep Bob going long as the wins follow, but it wouldn’t do harm to keep Bryzgalov’s name in the lineup frequently. Down the road, you never know which goaltender will heat up. Keeping both active for the time being may pay off huge dividends come playoff time.
