Flyers goaltending coach Jeff Reese thinks Sergei Bobrovsky was basically perfect in his first playoff game and sees a bright future for the 22 year old.
“I thought Sergei was perfect in the first game. Unfortunately he can’t score goals.”
“25 saves and one allowed goal is a good indicator. I know Sergei wasn’t happy. But no one expects him to post a shutout every game.”
Reese says that he’s not really worrying about Bobrovsky.
“He’s not nervous or impatient. I really want to see how Sergei performs in his new role. Playoffs are a very different level of hockey. I saw he was a little nervous at first, but quickly went back to normal. I’m pleased with his performance and the whole team played very well on defense. They just failed to score on Miller, who won the game for the Sabres.”
Reese isn’t sure how strong Bobrovsky is mentally right now and how strong he can become.
“Time will tell. But Sergei is able to regroup when he lets in a goal. Even now, in his first game of the playoffs, under strong pressure, he never lost his concentration for once.”
“Let’s not forget that he came to a completely new country, a different cultural environment, not even knowing the language. He’s playing in this sports city where the fans are incredibly faithful, but also ruthless at the same time. And we all know what kind of passion there is involved with his position especially.”
“But I see a bright future for Bob. He finds success in everything he does.”
“Right now, we’ll just quietly prepare him for the second game and try to figure out a way to win.”
And what did Bobrovsky himself think of his first playoff performance?
“I wasn’t happy with myself”, he grunts.
“Why?”
“The team lost. That’s why.”
This report was based off of a Russian-language story in the publication Sovietsky Sport.
