Goaltending, lack of offense part of Flyers' demise

The ending was certainly not what Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren envisioned when his team entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs this spring.

Being eliminated in a four-game sweep by the Boston Bruins in the second round? It's unacceptable. Particularly for a team that came within two wins of winning the Cup one year ago.

It wasn't too long ago the Flyers were winning 17 of 24 games in December and January to move atop the Eastern Conference standings. Somewhere along the way and just prior to the postseason, however, they lost something. Call it whatever -- magic, karma, the fight -- but it suddenly expired.

Sure, the Flyers would give their fans something to feel good about after rallying from a 3-2 series deficit against the Buffalo Sabres in the opening round, but then came Round 2 and the Bruins were the better and more desperate team.

"We lost the game because their team outplayed our team," Holmgren told reporters following Game 4.

It seems the biggest concern heading into the off-season is on the defensive side, where a three-headed goalie rotation dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the postseason. The Flyers finished last among the eight survivors in the conference semifinal round with a 3.46 goals-against average, and were 11th in the regular season (2.63 GAA). They were the only team to not post a shutout in 2010-11 despite 93 chances to do so.

Not that a shutout is a prerequisite for Stanley Cup success, but it is rather bizarre that a defense considered to be one of the deeper units in the League failed to notch even one.

Sergei Bobrovsky would give way to Brian Broucher, who gave way to Michael Leighton, who was replaced again by Boucher, who was finally benched in favor of Bobrovsky in the playoff finale on Friday at TD Garden. It was enough to make your head spin.

Bobrovsky finished the regular season second in the League among rookie goalies with 52 appearances and 28 victories, and was fifth in goals-against average (2.59) and save percentage (.915). There were signs of some fatigue at the tail-end of the regular season but his 24-save performance in a 1-0 loss to Ryan Miller and the Sabres in Game 1 of the conference quarterfinals had tempered those seeds of doubt.

Then there was the Game 2 meltdown when he allowed 3 goals on 7 shots in the opening 12:30 of the contest before the goalie carousel commenced -- it was the first of what became seven in-game goalie changes in 11 playoffs games by coach Peter Laviolette. That included Bobrovsky in for an injured Boucher for nine minutes of Game 2 against the Bruins -- a contest Boucher would eventually re-enter and finish.

"It's unusual," said Flyers owner Ed Snider following Game 3 against Boston. "That's all I can say. It's unusual but I don't think it's wrong. I think it's something that had to be done and I think the coach has done a good job deciding what he's going to do and when he's going to do it."

Regardless of whether it was right or wrong, the results weren't pretty -- Boucher finished with a 3.13 GAA and .904 save percentage; Bobrovsky sported a 3.23 GAA and .877 save percentage; Leighton a 3.43 GAA and .862 save percentage.

Bobrovsky was peculiarly demoted to third and even fourth-string goalie for four games following Game 2 against the Sabres before finally dressing as the team's backup in Game 7. He appeared in all four games against the Bruins -- allowing 6 goals on 49 shots -- and looked relatively sharp in relief and his one start in Game 4 (22 saves on 25 shots).

"Goaltending, as I've said before, is a function of your team," Holmgren said. "Was (Bobrovsky) great (in Game 4)? No, but he's a young kid and under intense circumstances. But we didn't lose the game because of our goalie."

Despite the fact Bobrovsky was 0-4-2 while allowing 24 goals in his last 10 appearances of the season, it is likely the Flyers will show patience with him. Boucher (4-4 in the playoffs) tried to replicate what he was able to bring to the team in the opening round, but the Bruins were far more relentless in their effort to crowd the crease and shoot at will.

Did the loss of veteran defenseman Chris Pronger hurt? Absolutely, but players and coaches certainly felt confident that the club would compete and still have a chance against any team standing in the way. That just never materialized against the Bruins.

"It doesn't really matter how much we missed him," defenseman Sean O'Donnell said. "I'm sure they missed (Marc) Savard and I'm sure Pittsburgh missed (Sidney) Crosby and (Evgeni) Malkin. Everyone is dealing with injuries right now. We showed during the year that we are a good team when Chris wasn't in the lineup. Everyone would like to have a healthy team but that wasn't the case. We didn't get it done."

Bobrovsky is signed for two more seasons before becoming a restricted free agent in the summer of 2013. Other players about to enter unrestricted free agency are Boucher, defensemen O'Donnell and Nick Boynton, and forwards Nikolay Zherdev and Ville Leino. Those restricted free agents include forwards Andreas Nodl, Darrel Powe, Daniel Carcillo and defenseman Danny Syvret.

Management will no doubt take a hard look at the offense as well. Possessing a group of top-nine forwards that rivals any other in the League, the Flyers scored 2.64 goals-per game in 11 playoff contests despite having six guys with at least 20 goals in the regular season. The team produced 3.30 per game last spring after having only three 20-plus goal scorers in the lineup.

The top prospects within the system include defensemen Erik Gustafsson and Kevin Marshall and forwards Eric Wellwood, Ben Holmstrom and Zac Rinaldo. The organization is also hoping goalie Joacim Eriksson, the Flyers 196th overall choice in the 2008 Entry Draft, can emerge as a top performer. As it stands now, the Flyers own just five picks in the upcoming Entry Draft June 24-25 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. -- none of which are in the opening two rounds.

"Well, I will sit back and we'll spend a lot of time over the next little while evaluating," Holmgren said. "We'll sit down with obviously staff and the coaches and the players and just see what went wrong. My first reaction is that we got beat by a better team in this series. They deserve to be moving on."

Bruins get off to a flying start

By the end of Game 1, a 7-3 affair, the Bruins had exposed the Flyers yesterday as a club that barely had a pulse, let alone one that was ready for the second round of the playoffs.

“Everything’s got to change,’’ said Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette. “Everything’s got to improve.’’

Yet for a brief window in the second period, the Flyers could have jumped back in the game. With the Bruins holding a 3-1 lead, Brad Marchand was penalized for slashing Ville Leino.

The Bruins killed off the penalty, but 39 seconds later, they went a man down once more. This time, Johnny Boychuk was directed to the penalty box for high-sticking Nikolay Zherdev on a backhanded follow-through of a clearing pass.

Once more, the Bruins buckled down and killed the penalty.

“Overall, they did a great job,’’ said Bruins coach Claude Julien, whose charges nullified four of five power plays. “At that time of the game, it’s so important that you kill those.

“You don’t want to let them back into it. Had they scored, it might have been a different game in the third period.

“I liked the job our penalty killers did. Not only did they do a good job in our own end, we controlled the puck pretty well when we had it. Whenever we had the opportunity, those guys made sure they made it all the way down the ice.’’

During the first kill, James van Riemsdyk and Mike Richards had sniffs at the goal. But Tim Thomas kept his net clear, making 14 of his 31 saves in the second period.

Thomas also got help from Zdeno Chara. The captain chased down van Riemsdyk after a stretch pass and got his stick on the winger’s blade to bust up a scoring chance.

Then on the second kill, the Bruins continued to execute their game plan. When Kimmo Timonen wound up from the point and let a slapper rip, Gregory Campbell hit the deck and blocked the defenseman’s shot.

The hockey gods rewarded the Bruins for their consecutive kills. Less than a minute after Boychuk stepped out of the box, the Bruins scored the winning goal.

David Krejci won an offensive-zone faceoff against Blair Betts, pulling the puck back to Adam McQuaid at the right point. Krejci then plowed to the front of the net. As McQuaid floated a puck on goal, Krejci was in the perfect position to tip the wobbler past Brian Boucher at 15:26 of the second, making it 4-1.

“I thought we did a pretty good job on our PK,’’ Patrice Bergeron said. “They have a lot of firepower. We’ve got to find a way to kill it. I thought we were pretty aggressive, and it helped.’’

The Bruins’ penalty-killing efforts, like most components of their game, exhibited attention to detail. Preparation and execution. And a killer instinct.

“Great game,’’ said Nathan Horton. “Great way to start.’’

When the Flyers tried to rally, the Bruins kicked the door shut in their faces. When the Bruins scored one goal, that wasn’t enough. When Boucher was on the ropes and exhibiting mental weakness, the Bruins connected with a final haymaker to put the goalie on the mat.

At 17:14 of the second period, after Marchand tucked in a short-range rebound of Andrew Ference’s point shot, Laviolette had seen enough. As he has already in the playoffs and as so many other Flyers coaches before him, Laviolette turned to his second choice.

Sergei Bobrovsky came in to relieve Boucher, only to allow two more goals in the third period.

As inconsistent as Boucher and Bobrovsky turned out to be, both had little relief from their let-’em-in defense.

Marchand and Krejci potted two goals apiece. Horton, Mark Recchi, and Campbell added point-blank strikes.

“The way we played in front of our goaltender, we as a team deserve all the responsibility,’’ said Laviolette.

Perhaps the most satisfying part of the win was how the Bruins’ No. 1 line floored the Flyers. Krejci, Horton, and Milan Lucic were coming off a nearly flat-line performance against Montreal.

Yes, Horton scored a pair of overtime winners, but for the most part, Hal Gill and P.K. Subban, along with the Canadiens’ first line of Mike Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec, and Andrei Kostitsyn, aimed their crosshairs directly on Krejci & Co.

“I don’t want to talk about it,’’ Krejci said Friday when asked about the opening round, no doubt still haunted by the Canadiens’ smothering ways.

Yesterday, the first line exploded. Of the 11 shots they sent on goal, three went in.

“Montreal really paid a lot of attention to that line,’’ Julien said. “They really had some hard matchups against that line. They certainly did a great job.

“Montreal’s a great defensive team. That’s their strength. They put their best players against that line. They made it tough on them. But luckily we had some depth and other lines that came up big for us.’’

So far, the Flyers are paying for any remaining frustrations the first line might have had.