Flyers Lack Confidence In Islanders Loss

The Philadelphia Flyers say they believe in their goalie of last resort, Brian Boucher. After dropping a 6-4 dud to the last-place Islanders on Thursday, the bigger question is whether they believe in each other.

This one was a Phriggin' disaster. Facing a team they had beaten 15 times in a row, the Flyers were down 3-0 to the Islanders less than eight minutes into the game. Islanders rookie John Tavares set up Blake Comeau for the first two goals, both deflected by Flyers. Frans Nielsen made it 3-0 at 7:45 of the first period.

"The first goal was off a stick, the second off a skate," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. "No excuses. That's how goals are scored sometimes. We've got to dig in."

The Flyers never did until the game was out of reach. Boucher was not the villain, but a victim. Out of the gate the Flyers looked disorganized, uninspired, even tired for a team that had not played since an impressive 5-1 victory over New Jersey on Sunday. The six goals by the Islanders were the most they had scored in one game against the Flyers since a 6-1 win on Jan. 28, 1998.

"We should have been the well-rested and energized team after having three nights off," said defenseman Chris Pronger. "We needed to match the Islanders' desire and we didn't. Our inconsistency came into play again."

Philadelphia knew the Islanders, all but officially eliminated from playoff contention, would come out loose and motivated to end the 15-game slide in which the Flyers had outscored them by a combined 51-25.

"The Islanders are a good team and they play hard. We knew that," said Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn. "They play an aggressive forecheck and teams that are out of the playoff race are always dangerous. We were prepared for that."

Their actions showed otherwise. Flyers captain Mike Richards had a rare, ill-timed quiet night. Veteran defenseman Matt Carle lost Nielsen dashing to the net on the Islanders' third goal. Defenseman Oskars Bartulis, whose presence in the lineup made Ryan Parent a healthy scratch, was shaky in just 14 minutes of icetime.
"This was game
77 for us. It's mind-boggling. We shouldn't be rattled by a couple of early goals. ... We need to forget about this one as quickly as possible."
- Flyers forward Ian Laperriere
By the time Laviolette benched Boucher as an act of mercy for the beleaguered goalie after a weak goal by Trent Hunter, the Flyers were down 5-1 early in the third period. Boucher's replacement was Jeremy Duchesne, who is only up with the big club because of a rash of injuries in goal at the NHL and minor league level. In an AHL game the night before, he allowed a goal from the red line and two others on just 16 shots.

Duchesne gave the Flyers 17 decent minutes, which is more than most of his teammates could say they contributed to the cause. To a man, the Flyers say they have the back of Boucher -- the backup (to the injured Michael Leighton, out until the playoffs) to the backup (to original No. 1 starter Ray Emery, out for the season). "Of course we do," said center Daniel Briere, who scored a third-period goal. "Those first two goals were lucky, but that's the game of hockey. We have to re-focus and get back in the game, but we didn't. The most troubling part of the game was giving up the goals to make it 3-0 and 4-0, but that wasn't about Boosh."

No, this was a team effort.

"This was game 77 for us," said veteran forward Ian Laperriere. "It's mind-boggling. We shouldn't be rattled by a couple of early goals. The only good thing about this is, we play Montreal right away (on Friday). We need to forget about this one as quickly as possible." Added Kimmo Timonen, "We've got to get better efforts from everybody."

The Flyers caught some breaks on Thursday. Atlanta, trailing the Flyers by two points in the turtle-like race for the final playoff berths in the Eastern Conference, lost in Washington. The Bruins, tied with Philadelphia with 82 points, lost at home to Florida.

Like too many of the Islanders' goals, the Flyers should view those losses as gifts.