Before the Flyers hold their practice this afternoon and we get a
hint of what Laviolette may do with his goaltenders in Game 2 — or we
aren’t told anything at all — I figured we could go ahead and debate
whether the Flyers should turn back to Michael Leighton.
Leighton
allowed five goals on 20 shots, and while he certainly isn’t to
completely blame for the loss he wasn’t just a victim of some horrible
defense by the Flyers. He certainly didn’t look like the confident
goaltender who recorded three shutouts against the Canadiens, and
resembled a goaltender without much overall experience making his first
start in the Stanley Cup finals.
The Flyers haven’t faced a team
with the offensive firepower of the Chicago Blackhawks, and it certainly
showed. So now we ask whether the Flyers should turn back to Leighton
in Game 2 after he was pulled, or should the Flyers stick with veteran
Brian Boucher?
Boucher is the veteran, and he’s experienced when
it comes to the way the game amps up the deeper you get in the playoffs.
Leighton appeared unprepared for how fast the game would be, how the
nerves would affect himself and the team. Boucher looked good in relief,
despite allowing the winning goal and you have to wonder if sticking
with Boucher would give the Flyers some stability after such an out of
control effort in Game 1.
Still, teams are generally hesitant to
flat out switch goaltenders in the middle of the Stanley Cup finals.
Would going right back to Boucher, after it was the entire team and not
just Leighton that had the bad game, be sending the wrong message to the
team?
There’s also the fact that teams sometimes just play
differently in front of one goaltender over another. Perhaps having
Boucher in net will calm the Flyers, especially with how the defense
performed in Game 1. Still, Leighton was the goaltender that played so
well in the series against the Canadiens and you wonder if he deserves
at least a chance to acquit himself after a poor showing in the opening
game of the series.
You have to think that Laviolette will
start Leighton in Game 2, but keep him on a very short leash. Still, you
wonder if the Blackhawks were right, saying before the series started
that they thought Leighton played so well because of the defense in
front of him and not because of his particularly strong play.
