Flyers goaltending opts for comfort zone with Boucher, Leighton

The Philadelphia Flyers' locker room is going to seem like old times for veterans of their 2010 Stanley Cup Playoff run: Brian Boucher getting the start, Michael Leighton backing him up … and no trace of the Russian rookie that helped get them back to the postseason in 2011.

Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly broke the news that Boucher and Leighton had full lockers in Buffalo for Game 3 ? Sergei Bobrovsky did not ? and that Boucher appeared to be the starter based on the workload in practice.

Bobrovsky was a wild card entering this season for the Philadelphia Flyers, before turning into an unexpected Calder Trophy candidate with 28 wins and a 2.59 GAA.

He was also a wild card entering the Stanley Cup Playoffs; not just because this was his first rodeo, but because he had hit a bit of a wall in April: Giving up 11 goals in his final three starts, and getting pulled from his last regular-season appearance against the New York Islanders in 12 minutes.

In Game 1 against the Buffalo Sabres, he made 24 saves and gave up the game's only goal on a defensive lapse by the Flyers. In Game 2, he was terrible: 3 goals on seven shots and replaced by Boucher in just 13 minutes. Boucher would go on to win the game, 5-4, for Philly.

The word from the Flyers that stuck with you following that win was "calm." Defenseman Sean O'Donnell said it. Coach Peter Laviolette said it, via CSN Philly:

"There's so many times where [Boucher] comes in and he's bailed us out," Laviolette said. "He's a veteran goaltender that has a calmness about him. In a game where there was a lot of emotion and a lot of energy, especially in the first period … he can come in and really settle things down for us, and that's just what he did. He's done it in the past, and it was great to see him do it tonight."

Leighton, one assumes, would have the same effect should he have to enter this series. Here's a keeper that was on the ice at the end of Game 6 vs. the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Finals last season, and rocked a 2.46 GAA in 13 playoff starts. The alternative is a rookie who just crapped the bed in 13 minutes during Game 2.

Which one do you think gives the Flyers piece of mind about their goaltending in the playoffs? Check out The Goalie Guild's "The Curious Case of Michael Leighton" for more on the dynamic between that keeper and 'Bob.'

No Chris Pronger for Game 3, by the way. Which might make the goalie talk pointless anyway.

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