Sergei Bobrovsky will get start number 12-in-a-row tonight when the Flyers take on the Simon Gagne-less Tampa Bay Lightning at the WFC. Just as we pointed out the other day, Peter Laviolette has a penchant for picking a goalie and sticking with him.
It looked, though, after the Flyers finally lost a game the other night, that Laviolette would budge and give Brian Boucher a start tonight. At least that’s what we all thought. It made sense. Boucher hasn’t played in, um, a really long time, and with games against the Habs and Capitals coming up in the next few days, a Boosh start against the Lightning made sense.
After all, these aren’t your beginning of the year Lightning. They’ve lost Gagne and Vinny Lecavalier and they look pretty mediocre lately. They’re certainly not the same team that beat the Flyers here back on October 14.
It made sense for a Boucher start to come tonight (it might’ve made more sense to rest him over the weekend in a back-to-back, actually, but I digress) but it’s not going to happen. What does Laviolette have to say about it? According to the Daily News, it basically boils down to “he’s young and in shape, he can handle it.”
Ask Bobrovsky himself, though, and he’ll tell you that it’s taking a bit of a toll. Not in so many words, but see for yourself. This quote comes from a foreign publication and was picked up and translated by Teemu H over night on Twitter.
I play every game like it was my last. I want to win and help these guys out. It’s a busy schedule here so I have no time to follow the KHL games. I need more sleep and recover physically. On one hand, it affects that I play so much. It’s a pretty big work load. But on the other hand, it’s easier to prepare for the next game. You’re always in that game mode.
Of course Bobrovsky wants to play. He says as much in that quote. But he also alludes to the fact that his work load is heavy and he needs a lot of time to recover after games. We’re not even a quarter of the way through the season yet and he’s already feeling the effects of his heavy workload. How’s he going to feel in June?
