NHL Playoffs 2012: Ilya Bryzgalov Must Improve Though the Flyers Are Winning

If you were to listen to most NHL analysts, the Philadelphia Flyers had no right to knock off the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first-round, six-game series that ended on Sunday. Pittsburgh seemed to be the favorite to win the Stanley Cup, but they met their toughest competition at the start of the playoff year and the Flyers brought an end to Pittsburgh’s dreams of glory.

With the possible exception of the deciding sixth game, goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov seemed to have little hand in the elimination of the Penguins. The Flyers certainly did not advance because of him; they may have, in fact, advanced in spite of Bryzgalov.

Now that the Flyers have the luxury of preparing for the second round, Bryzgalov is an obvious candidate for improvement. Philadelphia may have scored four or more goals in all four wins during the series, but the potent offense was the only reason that the team’s weak defensive performance was masked.

While success is measured entirely by wins and losses, the Flyers need Bryzgalov to be a positive factor if they want to find themselves in the “W” column during Round 2.

The Competition

As of this writing, five NHL teams have advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Bryzgalov won his series, as did goalies Mike Smith of Phoenix, Jonathan Quick of Los Angeles, Pekka Rinne of Nashville and backup Brian Elliott of St. Louis. All four Western Conference goaltenders could have made strong cases as the most valuable player in the first series for their respective teams.

Bryzgalov would likely find himself tied with Zac Rinaldo for least valuable in Philadelphia’s opening matchup.

With three series yet to be determined, all in the Eastern Conference, Bryzgalov could find himself staring down a rookie sensation Braden Holtby, defending champion Tim Thomas or Vezina front runner Henrik Lundqvist.

Nothing about Bryzgalov’s first-round performance has inspired faith that he can go toe-to-toe with the competition, unless he is able to find his groove by the start of the second round.

Injuries on the Blue Line

In Ilya Bryzgalov’s defense, his job was supposed to be easier.

At various points throughout the season, it was assumed that Bryzgalov would be playing with major figures clearing the crease for him. Captain Chris Pronger lost his season to concussions, hit machine Andrej Meszaros has been on injured reserve for months and rookie surprise Marc-Andre Bourdon has been unavailable since the first game of the first round.

Most of the defensive corps in front of Bryz is either too small (Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle and Erik Gustafsson) or too slow (Pavel Kubina and Andreas Lilja) to provide the all-around protection that goalies need.

Because the team has had to play postseason games without Pronger, Meszaros, Bourdon and Nicklas Grossmann, the onus is on Bryzgalov to pick up the slack. His defense showed they were willing to put it all on the line in Game 6 of the Pens series by blocking 40 shots.

Hopefully Bryzgalov will be inspired by the fearless nature of his battered defensive line.

Philly's Goalie History

It’s uncommon to use the word “goaltending” in Philadelphia without following it up with the word “controversy,” and the playoffs only bring out the worst of the team’s sordid history of netminding.

The 2011 playoffs were a disaster where the Flyers managed to start three different netminders in only 11 total games played, with each fresh face being more problematic than the last. Peter Laviolette’s transition from Sergei Bobrovsky to Brian Boucher to Michael Leighton and back again was jokingly referred to as the Philly goaltending carousel.

Before that, Boucher and Leighton each contributed to the roller coaster ride that was the 2010 postseason, ending with one of the weakest deciding goals in Stanley Cup history.

The last thing the city of Philadelphia needs is yet another excuse to blame the man in the mask for a playoff disappointment, especially one who is going to be wearing the team’s logo for years to come.

There Is No Safety Net

Ilya Bryzgalov was taken out of the game in the second period of Game 4 against the Penguins, because he allowed five goals. His backup, Sergei Bobrovsky, proved to be no relief by giving up an additional five goals.

Bobrovsky has done nothing to impress in his short postseason career. He is yet to win a playoff game, and ended last season with a 3.23 GAA and a .877 save percentage. His appropriately-limited action this season has resulted in some inflated, yet telling numbers: 8.11 and .722.

Thus, Bryzgalov appears to be the last line of defense for Philadelphia. The offensively talented squad does not need Bryzgalov to be stellar in net, but they need him to be reliable.

Otherwise, the team may repeat its horrendous second-round spiral of 2011.

3.89 and .871 Don't Cut It

When asking why Bryzgalov needs to improve his performance, the numbers say it all.

A 3.89 GAA and .871 SV% are terrible numbers for a backup goalie in the middle of the regular season. Those numbers sure as hell won’t cut it for a postseason starter finishing out the first year of a nine-year contract.

Luckily for Bryz, the scoring contributions of teammates like Claude Giroux and Danny Briere have made these abysmal numbers hold up, for now. In the second round, Bryzgalov will need to play at a more acceptable level.

Knowing the viciousness of Philly sports fans, failure to turn his game around will ensure that Bryzgalov finds himself afraid of a lot more than bears in the forest.

Champions Need Goaltending

The undeniable goal of this and every Flyers season is to hoist the Stanley Cup. In order to do that, the defense must be airtight, the offense must be opportunistic, the team must be disciplined and the goaltender must make life a living hell for the opponent.

One needs only to look at the most recent Cup-winning goalies to understand the impact that the man in the mask has on his team’s performance. Tim Thomas won the Cup (and Conn Smythe) with an outrageous .940 SV% in the playoffs. Prior to that, Antti Niemi and Marc-Andre Fleury carried their respective teams with .912 SV%.

The correlation of reliable goaltending and championships goes back to the origins of the Cup.

That is not to say only Bryzgalov can win Philadelphia its long-awaited third Stanley Cup. The team is filled with leaders and enthusiastic young talent with a hunger for hockey glory. Bryzgalov does not have to put up Tim Thomas-like numbers for the team to succeed.

But he sure as hell can’t keep putting up Ilya Bryzgalov-like numbers.