Leighton to start Game 2
CHICAGO – Both Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton have six wins in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But when the puck drops in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals at the United Center, it will be Leighton - and not Boucher - gunning for his seventh win.
Through a spokesman, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette announced Leighton will start just hours after saying he would not disclose a starter.
"Let me start out this press conference by saying that anything with regards to lineup changes, goaltenders and injuries – anything that is internal, will likely stay internal," Laviolette said.
Laviolette could have went with Boucher – who stopped 11 of 12 shots in 24 minutes worth of work on Saturday night, but picked up the loss since he gave up the game-winner to Tomas Kopecky in the third period. Boucher entered with the Flyers down, 5-4.
Instead, Laviolette stuck with Leighton – who allowed five goals on 20 shots, his most since entering for an injured Boucher in Game 5 in the second round against Boston.
Leighton is 3-1-1 this season in the game after being pulled. After his last loss, when he allowed 4 goals against Montreal in Game 3 last round, Leighton responded with a shutout.
Leighton is 6-1 with a 1.96 goals against average and .930 save percentage. Boucher is 6-5 with a 2.30 goals against average and .920 save percentage.
One day after a poor defensive effort, Chris Pronger called the mistakes "easily correctable."
"What happened [Saturday] wasn't a reflection of how [Leighton] played," Blair Betts said. "We gave them too many good scoring opportunities. Most of them came from three or four feet outside the crease, which is a tough area for the goaltender to play - especially when passes are coming from behind the net. We need to tighten up in front of our net."
Leighton said he would try and wipe the slate clean just 48 hours after Game 1.
"I'm just going to approach it the way I did last game," Leighton said. "Just keep doing what I've been doing, try not to think about what happened [Saturday].
"I didn't let any really bad goals in. That's the way I look at it. I didn't make some big saves. That's pretty much what it came down to. Every good scoring chance they had, they scored. And a couple of them were good shots. There's one or two that I was mad at myself for what I did. But that's the way it goes. That's the game of hockey."
Strange game.
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter (http://twitter.com/DNFlyers).