Game Thread Bob vs Rags Game (Nov 26)

[doom88]

Missed the game since the DVR crashed. How did Bob look? On paper / box score, seems very well. I was surprised he got the back to back start actually.

Hope he earns the #1 job, gets it, and keeps it.

[brelic]

He looked good. Made a few big saves... Was screened on the first goal, and then the Rags player got 2-3 whacks at the 2nd goal.

Chances are that Bryz starts next, I would say.

[hf101]

Chances are that Bryz starts next, I would say.

An interesting choice Lavy made today going with Bob. It appears on the surface he went with the hot goalie in BoB, but then Lavy could have made the decision NOT to play Bryz to protect him from another loss while playing with less than the team 6 nhl defensemen.

I agree though, Bryz will be back next Friday.

[brelic]

An interesting choice Lavy made today going with Bob. It appears on the surface he went with the hot goalie in BoB, but then Lavy could have made the decision NOT to play Bryz to protect him from another loss while playing with less than the team 6 nhl defensemen.

I agree though, Bryz will be back next Friday.

Interesting angle... I never really considered that. But if that were true, then what does that say about our $51M #1 goalie?

[flyercanuck]

An interesting choice Lavy made today going with Bob. It appears on the surface he went with the hot goalie in BoB, but then Lavy could have made the decision NOT to play Bryz to protect him from another loss while playing with less than the team 6 nhl defensemen.

I agree though, Bryz will be back next Friday.

If this is the case we're in for a loooooooooooong 9 years.

[hf101]

Interesting angle... I never really considered that. But if that were true, then what does that say about our $51M #1 goalie?

I think it could mean a couple of things. One possibility is that Lavy doesn't completely understand Bryz's psyche. So far he has tried a couple of things with Bryz one being to put him right back in after a poor showing, but that hasn't worked for any length of time. I think the one thing that has been made obvious is once Bryz is embarrasses about his play he has returned twice now with a solid effort. But that consistency is easily rattled with sloppy defensive play. Bryz has definitely has played better with Pronger in the line up. Lavy knows he has to get Bryz to play at the top of his game soon, so maybe a bit of competition will motivate Bryz to focus more. Thus setting a precidence that he will play the hot goalie.

I think it also means that this is a long season, and winning is more important than the money the organization choses to spend on its players.

[hf101]

If this is the case we're in for a loooooooooooong 9 years.

This is one of my favorite quotes.

“What a signing!” Jagr replied, laughing. “He’s got nine years left, right?

[doom88]

Interesting angle... I never really considered that. But if that were true, then what does that say about our $51M #1 goalie?

It speaks volumes. I think it is still too soon to label Bryz a mistake, but this isn't helping his case (much like his play).

[brelic]

It speaks volumes. I think it is still too soon to label Bryz a mistake, but this isn't helping his case (much like his play).

Exactly. I would think his job is to bail us out precisely in those kinds of situations (injuries, listless play, etc).

[doom88]

Exactly. I would think his job is to bail us out precisely in those kinds of situations (injuries, listless play, etc).

Yes, especially under the considerations of his position, salary, and circumstances of coming to the Flyers in the first place.

[flyerrod]

I will say this, it was in no way shape or form Bob's fault for that loss. He kept them in a game they had no right to be in with their play. Bryz is going through a rough stretch right now and it was probably a good thing not to pile on by putting him on the ice with no help. This is the time of year I prefer bryz to be struggling, not at the end of the season and rolling into playoffs.

[flyercanuck]

Bryzgalov has the worst stats of his entire career right now. I'll never understand the thinking behind the contract he got. 9 years and all that money for a guy who's done what exactly? Had a few decent seasons that resulted in what Bob accomplished in one?

[OccamsRazor]

Bryzgalov has the worst stats of his entire career right now. I'll never understand the thinking behind the contract he got. 9 years and all that money for a guy who's done what exactly? Had a few decent seasons that resulted in what Bob accomplished in one?

He defiantly looks middle of the road type as of late. I sure hope he's not our version of Huet. He'll be back in net come friday they have to much money invested for him to become the back up. He just isn't making any game saving saves... struggling with the easy stuff, like Skinner's a couple games ago..you have to make the easy ones. He has no confidence and it shows in his play.

[brelic]

He defiantly looks middle of the road type as of late. I sure hope he's not our version of Huet. He'll be back in net come friday they have to much money invested for him to become the back up. He just isn't making any game saving saves... struggling with the easy stuff, like Skinner's a couple games ago..you have to make the easy ones. He has no confidence and it shows in his play.

Oh man, if he turns out to be a Huet, that would really suck.

[OccamsRazor]

Oh man, if he turns out to be a Huet, that would really suck.

Yeah i don't think our luck is that bad. For our sake he shakes this phunk off. He'll be in net friday i assume.

[doom88]

Ugh Huet. If that happens, think there is any chance Homer can get out of that NMC to waive for AHL/KHL duty?

Man, I really hope Bob pans out - IN Philly.

[flyercanuck]

If Bryz can't handle the pressure of his contract (which is what looks to be happening) he sure wouldn't be able to handle NINE YEARS of Flyer fans hate.

[brelic]

If Bryz can't handle the pressure of his contract (which is what looks to be happening) he sure wouldn't be able to handle NINE YEARS of Flyer fans hate.

And that's really my biggest concern. I'm sure he'll turn it around, have a string of solid games. He'll probably even have 2, 3, 4 very good years in Philly. But not 9. Even if we could get him to waive his NMC to be traded, who would want a 35 year old goalie with 5 years left and an NMC in the contract?

It's just like the Pronger contract. Awesome at first, but 7 years is too long for a 35 year old player. Does anyone really think Pronger plays here until he's 42? Or even *plays* hockey, period? If he retires, his cap hit counts regardless.

Edited November 27, 2011 by brelic

[flyercanuck]

I didn't like the Pronger deal from day 1. Brieres will be bad the last few years too. Timonen is overpaid at this point in his career. Bryzgalov was never worth what he's getting. And for 9 years. God, that's just horrible.

[doom88]

Under the current CBA, yes. Would it be crazy to renegotiate/buyout Pronger and Bryz respectively next season (if the new CBA is favorable)?

[Digityman]

From Bill Meltzer

In the grand scheme of things, I don't think anyone should get too bent out of shape about the Flyers 2-0 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers played virtually a perfect game for 60 minutes and the shorthanded Flyers just didn't have the legs or the horses to win the game.

Before each game, HockeyBuzz's CaptEO and I have a little ritual of exchanging predictions of the final scores and the Flyers goal scorers for the game. We both had it as a decisive Philadelphia loss, and EO even predicted the Flyers would get shut out (although he had it as 4-0 Rangers). I did not think Philly would manage as well as it did defensively, and I had it down as a 6-2 loss.

You never want to use injuries or fatigue as an excuse but the simple truth of the matter is that the Flyers were playing for the third time in four days (although the Rangers were, too) and fourth time in six days.

Over that span, Philadelphia had played without Chris Pronger all week, had the services of Jaromir Jagr for only one-plus period and had also lost James van Riemsdyk and Andreas Lilja midweek. As a result, Peter Laviolette had little choice but to play Claude Giroux and his top three defensemen (Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn and Andrej Meszaros) for massive numbers of minutes.

Thus, even before the opening puck dropped at Madison Square Garden, it was pretty clear that the Flyers were going to need a lot of things to go their way in order to win. They needed to strike early, manage their energy wisely to have anything left for the third period and get a virtually flawless game in goal from Sergei Bobrovsky along the way.

Bob played fine. The emotion and effort were there. Even so, the Rangers were clearly the better team pretty much all game. When Henrik Lundqvist thwarted an early breakway attempt by Scott Hartnell with the greatest of ease, it already looked like scoring even a single goal was going to be an uphill climb.

Bobrovsky did a nice job in getting the game to the third period with just a 1-0 deficit. Defensively -- with the exception of New York's second goal that sealed the game-- Philly pretty much did a good job of bending but not breaking. But on a day where the Flyers just couldn't generate any sort of sustained forecheck, that wasn't quite good enough.

In terms of big-picture takeways from the game:

* The Flyers are going to need to do a better job of handling teams that play a 1-3-1 or 1-2-2 system against them. Yesterday, apart from getting hemmed deep in their own zone for much of the game and habitually getting shot attempts blocked, Philly had a miserable time trying to break out of their own zone and navigate the neutral zone.

* Philly had better hope that Pronger gets healthy soon and starts staying healthy for a change. At the current rate, Timonen is going to be out of gas by the start of the stretch drive.

* New York is NOT a team against whom its ever advisable to chase the game. Buoyed by the goaltending Lundqvist, even a 1-0 deficit after two periods can be a mountain to climb.

Since start of 2010-11 season, Rangers are now 36-0-1 (7-0-1 this season) when leading after 2 periods -- that's the best winning percentage in the NHL in that situation. Meanwhile, Philly has won just twice in 30 tries since the start of last season (1-7-0 this season, 1-16-5 last year) when trailing after two periods.

* Bobrovsky deserves immense credit for his play in the last two games. He created his own monster on the Hagelin goal -- and was not helped by his team running around aimlessly in its own zone -- but has otherwise been almost flawless in the last eight periods. In late November, there is no goaltending controversy. However, Iya Bryzgalov had better pick up his play to the point where, come April, there is no doubt as to which goaltender gives Philadelphia the better opportunity to outplay a top opposing netminder.

Coming tomorrow, I will write my November in Review blog.

[doom88]

@Digityman great post, thanks!

[hf101]

It speaks volumes. I think it is still too soon to label Bryz a mistake, but this isn't helping his case (much like his play).

I agree, it is far to early to label Bryz a mistake. Bryz's worst games coincidentally are the games after Pronger was out of the line-up.

[doom88]

I agree, it is far to early to label Bryz a mistake. Bryz's worst games coincidentally are the games after Pronger was out of the line-up.

The Pronger note is irrelevant. Bryz was brought in to handle that situation and steal a few games. Bob is the one winning those games at the moment, which includes a few without Pronger, and more.

I still maintain its too early to judge Bryz, but he needs to get his head on straight and win some games in convincing fashion.

[hf101]

The Pronger note is irrelevant.

I think the first game or so after Pronger is out of the line-up is relevant. Bryz has stated that there have been communication issues with the defense.