Flyers coach Peter Laviolette gave Sergei Bobrovsky a chance to redeem himself on Thursday night against Pittsburgh.
The 22-year-old rookie goalie played one of his best games of the season, stopping 30 shots in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Penguins.
"We were not sharp tonight. We got beat in most areas, and if it weren't for our goaltender, we wouldn't have gotten any points," Laviolette said.
Bobrovsky was coming off a shaky outing Tuesday in which he allowed three goals on nine shots and was pulled early in the second period. The Flyers overcame the 3-0 deficit but lost to Washington, 5-4, in a shootout.
"It's a chance to get him back in there," Laviolette said before the game. "I'm sure any time you have a game you're not happy with, you want to get back in and go back at them."
Laviolette talked to Bobrovsky after the Washington loss and told him "to put the game behind him. The season's a long time. Trust me, there have been a lot of times players haven't had the games they want; it's just with the goaltender, it shows up. . . . But if a forward doesn't have a great game, if he's not scoring or not generating [chances], there's no direct result from it.
"The most important thing is that you forget about it and go out and work hard, and he has that opportunity."
Asked after Thursday's game if Bobrovsky had answered any lingering questions, Laviolette said: "We didn't have any lingering questions. You guys did. We all said he played great in Dallas and had an off night [against Washington]. Everyone acknowledged it, and he came back tonight and he was a difference-maker."
Winger Jody Shelley, the Flyers' enforcer, had orbital-bone surgery under his left eye Thursday. GM Paul Holmgren said the surgery went well and that Shelley will begin skating in about a week and be able to play in three or four weeks. . . . With a win in Long Island on Saturday against the Islanders, the Flyers will equal a franchise record for road victories in a season. They are 23-9-4 on the road; the record is 24 wins, set by the 2003-04 team. . . . Andrej Meszaros was plus-6 in his last four games before Thursday. He entered the game with a team-best plus-26 rating, just ahead of Mart Carle (plus-25) and Jeff Carter (plus-25). Meszaros' rating was tied for eighth in the NHL. Anaheim's Toni Lydman leads the league at plus-32. . . . Nik Zherdev was a healthy scratch for the eighth straight game. . . . Recently signed forward Matt Read is expected to play for the Phantoms this weekend. - Sam Carchidi
