His coach has zero faith in his goaltending and every hockey fan in the world knows it.
He's a scrapper and a resilient guy. He's had to rise above the influence of negativity countless time in the 2001 Playoffs. He has started games and played well. He's started games and played gawd awful and been pulled. He's started games, been pulled due to injury, then was put back in the net later in the game.
Wednesday night in Boston, with his team trailing 2-0 to the ornery Bears, Boucher was devoured in the first 63 seconds of a must-win game. at the thirty second mark, Zdeno Chara beat Boucher to open the scoring and to serve notice that the Bs mean business. Daxvid Krejci would score 33 seconds later, forcing Peter Laviolette to call the earliest time out of his Playoff career. Laviolette, like Boucher, was stunned by the Boston blitzkrieg. He wanted a word, or twenty, with his starting goaler at the Philly bench. Laviolette needed saves, not more excuses and poor play. His team could not deliver. In the second period, Dan Paille and Nathan Horton would score, thus, Laviolette hooked Boucher around the neck and dragged him to the Philly bench. Poor Boucher. He's been broken down and defeated. At 4-0, the Flyers were down hearted and dejected. They still has time on the clock in order to launch a comeback. Lavi inserted Bobrovsky in hopes of creating a spark that would ignite an offensive inferno for Philly. No spark. No fire. No comeback. To add insult to Philly injury, Chara impaled the Flyers with Boston's first PPG of the Playoffs. With Hartnell and Coburn in the box, Chare nuked Bobrovsky from 55 feet out for the 5 on 3 PPG. Boston had gone ohfer 30 on the PP vs. Montreal and Philly before the Chara bomb.
The Flyers now trail the Bruins three games to none in this second round best-of-seven series. Game 7 is now an elimination game in Boston.
The Washington Capitals screwed the pooch in the Playoffs--- again. Bruce Boudreau has been Bergenheimed!
Whats the point of winning the President's Trophy in 2010, and then, finishing first overall in the Eastern Conference in 2011 when your supposed stars fold like cheap, polyester leisure suits in the Playoffs?
The Caps deserve to hang their heads in shame. Bruce Boudreu has earned the right to walk the plank. Its too bad that George McPhee cannot fire his dogs. Its easier in pro sports to can the coach when the players fail.
Lindy Ruff has a saying that he lives by, it goes:
"Hard work will beat talent when talent refuses to work hard".
Backstrom, Semin, Johansson, Laich, Arnott, and the rest of the top six forwards must accept responsibility for their collective failure to add primary and secondary scoring against the Rangers and the Lightning. I look at Semin and Backstrom and I see Max Afinogenov. Guys who have uncanny, off the charts abilities in international play and in the regular season. They pile up the points, and help to sell more merchandise to the home fans. They just can't elevate their game in the Playoffs. They are not prime time players. They are posers.
Ovechkin and Knuble can't score all the goals. They need help from Semin and Backstrom. They didn't get it, and now they are going golfing instead.
The Caps D was soft as porous vs. the Bergenheim-Moore-Downie line. They allowed Stamkos, St. Louis, and Lecavalier to free wheel, make plays and skate in the Caps Dzone.Mike Green was injured late iin the regualr season and then again in the Playoffs. He was a ghost in the Tampa series debacle.
In the end, The Bolts are the better team and they earned the right to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2004, when they beat Calgary for their only Stanley Cup victory in team history.
Crediit to Guy Boucher for confusion the Hell out of the fragile Caps by installing the "1-3-1". The Caps were lazy and listless and they appeared to to surrender early in games when presented wityh the challenge of fighting through the neutral zone combat.
Sean Bergenheim is the Chris Kontos and John Druce of this season's NHL Playoffs. Kontos and Druce were nameless, faceless NHLers who rose up and led their respective teams in gola scoring in the early 90s.
Bergenheim has stepped out from behind the shroud of anonymity and has become a leading man in these 2011 Playoffs. He scored four goals in four games vs. Washington. He has 7 goals for his team in the Playoffs.
The Washington Caps may want to go out and scour Europe and the minor leagues for more Bergenheims. All world talent can only get a team so far. At some point, heart, soul, sacrifice, and determination have to take over when the talent is not working against stiff competition and the neutral zone trap.
Props to Bergenheim's linemates Dominic Moore and Steve Downie for their heroic contributions on the score sheet and in the corners. Without this line, Boucher and the Bolts do not sweep Washington.
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