Sergei Bobrovsky stunning in the preseason opener
The preseason is ‘make or break’ for rookies. A no holds barred testing ground where the flock thins. Everyone has a clean slate. The draft is history, and real life has begun. Unless here a rookie can show that he has what it take, the odds are that he
won’t make it far in the NHL. Flyers rookie goaltender from Russia, Sergei Bobrovsky, it seems won’t be one of those who gets lost in the crowd.
Sergei is a quiet sort of a person (maybe this is because he doesn’t quite get the English language yet!) but after Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils he has the spotlight shine on him. It would probably stay on him for a good long while. Sergei
was an integral part of Flyers win over the New Jersey Devils. After the goaltender took over in the third quarter and stayed on into overtime, Bobrovsky stopped all seven shots at the net. Bobrovsky was supposed to only play the 20 minutes of the third quarter
but with Danny Briere’s equalizer the goaltender was thrust into a new mix.
“The situation happened and he ended up getting into it,” coach Peter Laviolette said after the game. The intensity of the Devils offense declined after the second period. In the first and second periods the Devils had 12 and 11 shots on the goal. Come third
period, that number dropped to less than half to just 5 shots. In contrast the Flyers were their most aggressive in the third period with 14 shots on goal, more than the combined total of the first and second periods.
That however shouldn’t take away credit from Bobrovsky for some great saves in high pressure situations against NHL veterans. “I thought he did a good job in the third period, he didn’t have a lot of chances, but he had some big saves,” Coach Laviolette.
The game was eventually decided on a shootout since neither team scored in the overtime. That put the entire weight of the game on the 22 years olds’ shoulder. Quiet a burden to bear your first time out in the big league but Bobrovsky stayed calm and composed
through it all. He has left an impression on his teammates and the coach.
Danny Brierre would have to be grouped together with those who have been impressed. “He was following the puck, tracking the puck really well,” Danny said. He went on to emphasize that ‘Bob’ had made some big saves and that the shootouts were not an easy
position to be in. “It’s really tough to play back there, and we came back, we were losing, and he gave us a chance to win.”
Bobrovsky stopped Devils captain Langenbrunner with relative ease in the shootouts. Next shooter, Veteran Patrik Elias, wasn’t quiet as easy to hold back but Bobrovsky still managed the save. Jason Arnott was the only one of the Devils that he couldn’t stop.
That was still good enough for the Flyers to take the game as Mike Richards and Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers while Bobrovsky stopped Jacob Josefson. The goaltender earned the win for the Flyers more than anyone else.
Bobrovsky was indeed amazing on Tuesday but his performance is only part of the equation. The game goes a long way towards advancing his career in the NHL by putting him in the spotlight.
The Russian said that he didn’t come to North America to play in the AHL. “I must do everything I can to make the team. There is always a chance.” His chances have gotten dramatically better.
Bobrovsky said that in past few years he didn’t have any goalie coach looking over him and telling him how to improve. Instead he had to resort to watching video on his own to improve. In the NHL the pace of his improvement would rise considerably. He could
be the starting goaltender for the flyers if only he can get a hang of English and be able to communicate with his team.
“I just shout things in Russian to them,” Bobrovsky said, though it’s unlikely that would work.
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