If the Flyers are to have success in 2011-12, it is going to be crucial for the team to significantly cut down the number of goals against in order to compensate for the likely drop in the number of goals the Flyers score compared to last season. In order to accomplish this feat, Philadelphia's penalty kill will need to be a little less streaky than it was last season.

Last season, the Flyers ranked 15th in the NHL in penalty killing, with an 82.8 percent success rate (84.1 percent at home, 81.4 percent on the road). The team was the 6th most penalized teams in the NHL, facing 313 shorthanded situations and allowing 54 opposition PPGs. In actual numbers -- not PK percentages-- that amounted to the Flyers allowing more power play goals than all but nine other teams.

One of the teams that allowed more PPGs was Ilya Bryzgalov's Phoenix Coyotes. Phoenix gave up 64 PPGs in 296 opportunities, ranking 27th in the NHL in the number of PPGs yielded and 26th in penalty killing success (78.4 percent).

Last season, Bryzgalov enjoyed an excellent .931 save percentage at even strength but ranked in the lower half of NHL starters when it came to making saves during penalty kills, stopping pucks at an .881 clip. The previous year, he had a .928 even strength save percentage and an .894 save percentage with his club shorthanded. In 2008-09, he had a .918 save percentage at even strength but ranked last among all goalies who started 50 or more games that season with an .832 save percentage on the PK.

Even if Bryzgalov duplicates his 2010-11 save percentage on the PK, however, it is still an improvement over last year's Flyers goalies. As a rookie, Sergei Bobrovsky had a .923 even strength save percentage last year but dropped to .864 on the penalty kill. Brian Boucher stopped pucks at .925 at even strength and .861 on the penalty kill.

Oddly enough, the NHL starting goalie who posted the NHL's best save percentage on the penalty kill in 2010-11 was Tomas Vokoun (.925). While Vokoun's even strength save percentage (.919) was significantly lower than Bryzgalov's, he was better on both ends of special teams. Apart from his PK work, Vokoun stopped 58 of 60 shots when shorthanded opponents attempted to score a SHG. Bryzgalov yielded 5 SHGs on 57 shots.

Tim Thomas, winner of both the Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophies, ranked atop the NHL at even strength with a mind-boggling .947 save percentage but was 11th among regular starters with an .889 save percentage on the PK. Statistically at least, Pekka Rinne was the NHL goalie who was the most consistent across all game situations (.932 at even strength, .912 on the PK, .930 in stopping would-be opposition SHGs).

Of course, these numbers all need to be taken with a grain of salt. Keep in mind:

1) The goalies' save percentages in all situations are as much a reflection of team play as their individual play. Goaltenders are the hardest players to accurately measure statistically, and even save percentages can be deceptive at times.

2) All that matters is the final score of a game. No one cares about the situational breakdown, and it's silly to weigh a goalie's special teams save percentages more heavily than his even strength success.

3) Last season's numbers often have no bearing on the next, especially when a player switches teams in the offseason. Example: Jaroslav Halak saw his PK save percentage drop from .892 with Montreal in 2009-10 to .878 with St. Louis this past season. Meanwhile, as amazing as Vokoun's PK save percentage was in 2010-11, he posted a pedestrian .861 (compared to a .937 even strength save percentage) the previous year.

I don't think there is any doubt that Ilya Bryzgalov is one of the top goaltenders in the NHL. However, for those who expect his presence alone to carry the Flyers to the upper echalon of the NHL's penalty kills in 2011-12, better think again. Logic and history strongly suggest otherwise.

The Flyers team defense will need to be a little more consistent than it was last year. If it is, Bryzgalov will do his part. to help the team reduce the number of goals it yields in all game situations. If it isn't, there's only so much that Bryzgalov (or any goalie) can do.

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