Lightning vs. Flyers: Brian Boucher's Glove Saves the Day, 2 Points in Shootout

There are plenty of goals that I'm sure veteran net minder Brian Boucher wishes he could have back.

On Tuesday night in Tampa Bay, in front of a crowd sporting more orange than you'd expect, it was Boucher's glove that helped the Philadelphia Flyers finally solve the Tampa Bay Lightning in a wild 4-3 game that featured a couple of wacky goals and a number of highlight-reel saves from both Boucher and Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

The Flyers, who hold the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference, had been 0-3 against the second seeded Lightning heading into Tuesday's contest.

Rookie net minder Sergei Bobrovsky had appeared in two previous games against the Lightning this year, playing 40 minutes and compiling a horrendous 10.50 goals against average and a .588 save percentage, so Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette decided to go with Boucher in net on Tuesday.

Boucher made him look smart, as the veteran goalie made key glove saves on Victor Hedman, Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis to keep the Flyers in it until Kimmo Timonen out-waited Dwayne Roloson and guided the puck into the bottom left corner of the net in the seventh round of the shootout.

The Lightning had goals from Dominic Moore, Vincent Lecavalier and Teddy Purcell. Moore also tallied the Lightning's only goal in the shootout, beating Boucher high to the stick side.

The Good

Mike Vernace, recently called up from AHL Norfolk, played well in his limited time on the ice. He laid a nifty diagonal pass setting up Teddy Purcell's goal from the left circle that tied the game. With Lundin and Smaby out, the Lightning will look to Marc-Andre Bergeron and Vernace to contribute from the blue line.

Captain Vincent Lecavalier stayed hot with his 13th goal of the season on the power play. The line of Lecavalier, Teddy Purcel, and Simon Gagne continued to carry the offensive load for the Bolts while All-Stars Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis continue to experience a slight slump.

Dwayne Roloson did everything he could in the shootout to secure the win, making one beautiful rolling save in particular to keep the Bolts' hope for two points alive.

The Bad

Lightning head coach Guy Boucher needs to design a wrinkle to his 1-3-1 forecheck for teams that played passively after earning a lead. The Flyers clearly watched some tape from the 5-2 loss to the Capitals on February 4, as the Flyers followed the Capitals' game plan of waiting in their own zone and forcing the high forward to attack the puck, then quickly moving it up the weak side of the neutral zone where there is a Lightning forward defending rather than a defenseman. Until Boucher finds a way to counter this, good coaches will scout and exploit this weakness.

Veteran Lightning defenders need to start moving their feet more. Both Matthias Ohlund and Pavel Kubina took bad penalties because they defend too often with their sticks and not with their feet.

The Ugly

Off a seemingly innocuous chip behind the net, Claude Giroux centered the puck to the slot and James van Riemsdyk scored on an easy wrister. The goal itself wasn't ugly at all, but having four Lightning defenders below the goal line watching the puck is unforgivable.

The Bolts gave up yet another shorthanded goal, this time on a penalty shot by Darroll Powe. If Lightning forwards can't be responsible on the blue line when on the power play, Guy Boucher might need to consider using some defensemen or being less aggressive, as it cost the Lightning yet again.