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A tough night for trio of netminders

Ilya Bryzgalov, Nathan Horton

Philadelphia Flyers’ Ilya Bryzgalov, of Russia, reacts after giving up a goal to Boston Bruins’ Nathan Horton in the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

AP

Every now and then, a night develops an unmistakable theme. Tuesday, Dec. 27 might be remembered as an evening to forget for three No. 1 goalies. Let’s take a look at the low moments for that trio:

Ottawa Senators should-be franchise goalie Craig Anderson made the Montreal Canadiens offense look like an uncontrollable locomotive, allowing four goals on just seven shots. He only lasted 22:03 minutes before the Senators pulled him in favor of Alex Auld, who turned aside 19 out of 21 in that 6-2 loss.

Toronto Maple Leafs starter James Reimer lasted a little longer than Anderson. Reimer got the hook at the 24:13 mark after giving up three goals on eight shots. Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson was beaten twice himself (16 for 18) as the Florida Panthers topped Toronto 5-3.

The Philadelphia Flyers didn’t yank Ilya Bryzgalov from their net even though he’s likely to blame for a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Breezy was allowed to salvage his numbers a bit - relatively speaking - as he earned 11 saves on five goals allowed. (At one point, Tampa Bay had four goals on just 10 shots.) The Flyers fired twice as many shots on Tampa Bay’s net, but Mathieu Garon was game to the task; Philly could only beat him once on 32 shots.

Update: tonight bothered Bryzgalov to the point that he dropped an f-bomb during a live press conference. Sam Carchidi censored his reaction:

bleepingbreezy

James

***

All three teams expect much more from their respective goalies. Reimer has been struggling since he returned from (what just about everyone thought was) a concussion. Many of Anderson’s wins have been the result of great goal support rather than stellar goaltending. We all love Bryzgalov’s one-liners, but no amount of strange comments about tigers and huskies can camouflage the fact that he hasn’t justified the hype.

On the bright side, it can’t really get much worse than it was tonight.