Philadelphia goalie Brian Boucher, left, came on in relief and earned the win in Game 2. (Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
By Tim Panaccio, CSNPhilly.com
Which was more surprising at the Flyers' morning skate on Monday: the announcement that Brian Boucher would start in goal for Game 3? Or that coach Peter Laviolette would completely erase Sergei Bobrovsky from the lineup and place Michael Leighton as the backup?
"Boosh will start in net," Laviolette said. "Not company - my policy. That's what I've done all [season], I've announced the starter. It's Boosh."
The Sabres got a split of the opening two games of the series in Philly, and now the Flyers are looking to get at least that in Buffalo.
Laviolette would not comment on Leighton, but the goalie split shots with Boucher at the skate and he, along with Boucher, has a full locker in the Buffalo visitors' dressing room.
Bobrovsky has a small, split locker that does not hold equipment. That tells you "Bob" won't be backing up.
GM denies Pronger report
General manager Paul Holmgren denied a report on a local Philly TV station that said Chris Pronger's "setback" last month was actually a second break to his right hand.
"Apparently, people can throw anything they want at the wall and see if it sticks," Holmgren said. "That's all I can say about that."
Pronger skated with the Flyers at the morning practice for the first time in more than a month. He took a few wrist shots, but nothing more.
"He moved the puck around, he was involved in our drills," Laviolette said. "That's the first time that he's been out there with us."
Energy efficient
Once again, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff warned about the emotions being high in HSBC Arena, and how his club needed to control itself, lest it get into another war of attrition with penalties.
"Very important, very important," he said. "Obviously, you want to play with a lot of energy, but the right kind of energy.
"They know. They've had it for three months, the right type of energy. They pretty well had the right type of energy and desperation. There was shot blocking there that you'd never see in a regular-season game, there were some hits you'd never see.
"There was face-to-face where you saw guys just laughing int he other guy's face, which is just playoff time. The smile on Gerbe's face a few times is just one that makes a coach smile. It basically just said, 'Bring it on.'"
Sabres sharp after losses
Buffalo has not lost two games in succession since Feb. 16-20, when the Sabres lost three straight.
"The playoffs is the time of year where you'd like to win all four games in one night, but the schedule isn't set up that way," Ruff said.
"It's dealing with adversity, it's dealing with the emotions of a loss, it's being able to put the win away just as fast as you put the loss away. I think we were able to prove that to ourselves the last couple months under extreme pressure, because we knew we couldn't afford to go on any type of two-game, three-game little slide or I wouldn't be standing here."
No chemistry
The Flyers complained after Game 2 about having no chemistry on the ice for any of their lines because there was so much special-teams play.
Buffalo's Drew Stafford said the same thing about his line with Tyler Ennis and Brad Boyes.
"It's tough. It's probably one of the toughest things to do in these games ... You want your chemistry. You want your lines. You want to be able to get back to rolling four lines, keeping the attack.
"For the guys that aren't killing penalties or aren't on the power play, it is hard. I know from experience sitting on the bench, sometimes sitting six, seven minutes, and then you're expected to go out and give it obviously 100 percent flying around after sitting around for so [long]. It's a challenge."
Which way?
Hard to say what kind of game we'll see in Game 3.
Will the officials allow the two teams to play like they did in an excellent opener won by Buffalo 1-0? Or will they insist on calling 24 penalties to ruin the game and take it over themselves like they did in Game 2, won by the Flyers 5-4?
"We're getting a good sense of what is being called," Ruff said. "Almost everything. We were flagged for almost everything ... We need to clean up some of that but at the same time, we need to play with emotion and capture what our fans will bring tonight.
"That means we may have to kill one or two [penalties] because we're too emotional. I'm not looking for this flat-line game where we take all the emotion out of our players."
Which game would be more appreciated?
"Just make the calls that are there," Ruff replied. "That's fair.
"Or one team is going to be strictly one way. There's a looseness that both teams bring. We're gonna see that. Game 3 could be like Game 1 or Game 2 or somewhere in between.
"When you get momentum in the game you have to take advantage of it. They're a little bit of a quick-strike team. They can grab a couple in two minutes. They're that good and have that good of skill."
For more from Tim Panaccio on the Flyers, check out CSNPhilly.com
Which was more surprising at the Flyers' morning skate on Monday: the announcement that Brian Boucher would start in goal for Game 3? Or that coach Peter Laviolette would completely erase Sergei Bobrovsky from the lineup and place Michael Leighton as the backup?
"Boosh will start in net," Laviolette said. "Not company - my policy. That's what I've done all [season], I've announced the starter. It's Boosh."
The Sabres got a split of the opening two games of the series in Philly, and now the Flyers are looking to get at least that in Buffalo.
Laviolette would not comment on Leighton, but the goalie split shots with Boucher at the skate and he, along with Boucher, has a full locker in the Buffalo visitors' dressing room.
Bobrovsky has a small, split locker that does not hold equipment. That tells you "Bob" won't be backing up.
GM denies Pronger report
General manager Paul Holmgren denied a report on a local Philly TV station that said Chris Pronger's "setback" last month was actually a second break to his right hand.
"Apparently, people can throw anything they want at the wall and see if it sticks," Holmgren said. "That's all I can say about that."
Pronger skated with the Flyers at the morning practice for the first time in more than a month. He took a few wrist shots, but nothing more.
"He moved the puck around, he was involved in our drills," Laviolette said. "That's the first time that he's been out there with us."
Energy efficient
Once again, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff warned about the emotions being high in HSBC Arena, and how his club needed to control itself, lest it get into another war of attrition with penalties.
"Very important, very important," he said. "Obviously, you want to play with a lot of energy, but the right kind of energy.
"They know. They've had it for three months, the right type of energy. They pretty well had the right type of energy and desperation. There was shot blocking there that you'd never see in a regular-season game, there were some hits you'd never see.
"There was face-to-face where you saw guys just laughing int he other guy's face, which is just playoff time. The smile on Gerbe's face a few times is just one that makes a coach smile. It basically just said, 'Bring it on.'"
Sabres sharp after losses
Buffalo has not lost two games in succession since Feb. 16-20, when the Sabres lost three straight.
"The playoffs is the time of year where you'd like to win all four games in one night, but the schedule isn't set up that way," Ruff said.
"It's dealing with adversity, it's dealing with the emotions of a loss, it's being able to put the win away just as fast as you put the loss away. I think we were able to prove that to ourselves the last couple months under extreme pressure, because we knew we couldn't afford to go on any type of two-game, three-game little slide or I wouldn't be standing here."
No chemistry
The Flyers complained after Game 2 about having no chemistry on the ice for any of their lines because there was so much special-teams play.
Buffalo's Drew Stafford said the same thing about his line with Tyler Ennis and Brad Boyes.
"It's tough. It's probably one of the toughest things to do in these games ... You want your chemistry. You want your lines. You want to be able to get back to rolling four lines, keeping the attack.
"For the guys that aren't killing penalties or aren't on the power play, it is hard. I know from experience sitting on the bench, sometimes sitting six, seven minutes, and then you're expected to go out and give it obviously 100 percent flying around after sitting around for so [long]. It's a challenge."
Which way?
Hard to say what kind of game we'll see in Game 3.
Will the officials allow the two teams to play like they did in an excellent opener won by Buffalo 1-0? Or will they insist on calling 24 penalties to ruin the game and take it over themselves like they did in Game 2, won by the Flyers 5-4?
"We're getting a good sense of what is being called," Ruff said. "Almost everything. We were flagged for almost everything ... We need to clean up some of that but at the same time, we need to play with emotion and capture what our fans will bring tonight.
"That means we may have to kill one or two [penalties] because we're too emotional. I'm not looking for this flat-line game where we take all the emotion out of our players."
Which game would be more appreciated?
"Just make the calls that are there," Ruff replied. "That's fair.
"Or one team is going to be strictly one way. There's a looseness that both teams bring. We're gonna see that. Game 3 could be like Game 1 or Game 2 or somewhere in between.
"When you get momentum in the game you have to take advantage of it. They're a little bit of a quick-strike team. They can grab a couple in two minutes. They're that good and have that good of skill."
For more from Tim Panaccio on the Flyers, check out CSNPhilly.com
