Boucher Solid in Flyers 4-2 Win

April 19th, 2011 by JGlenn | Filed under General.

Boosh is Back

Maybe the goaltending change was what the team needed. The Flyers played their best game of the series this far, winning 4-2 and taking a 2-1 lead in the best of 7 series. Brian Boucher took over as the playoff starter and was rock solid in net. He did what Bob was not able to do, give the Flyers some big saves. The Flyers just seem to play better in front of Boucher. To me it looks like he quarterbacks the game more than Bobrovsky does. You constantly see him directing the defenseman where to go, and where the puck is. His puck handling abilities are also much better than Bobs. It looks like he will be the starter from here on out, although this is the Flyers so you never know.

The Flyers looked very good offensively, getting goals from Carter (PP), Briere, and Zherdev. Timmonen buried an empty netter to seal the game. The Flyers really needed to get Carter going and he looked pretty good all night. Zherdev was playing his first game of the series, filling in for the injured Andres Nodl. It will be interesting to see what Laviolette does when Nodl is healthy again. Zherdev gives you that speed element and needs to be accounted for at all times. It looked like the power play moved the puck a little better too with him in there. Richards shook off a tough start to the game and hopefully is getting out of his slump. He had a nice assist on Zherdevs goal and rang one off the post as well.

The turning point of the game though was the Flyers 5-3 penalty kill. Hanging on to a 3-2 lead with about 13 minutes left, and Zherdev in the box for slashing, Darroll Powe took a blatant charging penalty. The result was a 1:15 2 man advantage. Boucher made 2 point blank saves, and Coburn and Timmonen had some big clears. The Flyers also blocked a few shots during the kill in a real gut check moment of the game.

Game 3 is usually a piviotal game and i thought it was the Flyers best effort so far. Hopefully with Boosh in the lineup we can play like this from here on out. The Flyers may also get Pronger back for game 4. During the game it was mentioned that he had a full practice with the team today, which is encouraging. JVR is growing up right in front of our eyes. He is finally using his size to his advantage, and is a bull so far this series. I would love for this team to get their pre all star break swagger back. Lets Go Flyers!!!!

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