Leighton's injury could make Boucher Flyers's top goalie

TORONTO - Brian Boucher believes he has the skills to start in goal for the Flyers. And, depending on the extent of starter Michael Leighton's back injury, Boucher may be stepping into that role, at least for a while.

Leighton suffered a back injury during the Flyers' 4-3 exhibition shoot-out win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday at the Air Canada Centre and will be evaluated when he returns to Philadelphia.

Boucher went in during the decisive shoot-out. He stopped two of three Leafs shots, and Claude Giroux and Danny Briere connected for the Flyers (2-1).

All three of the Flyers' preseason games have been decided by shoot-outs. This was their second against the Leafs (2-2).

Even before Leighton's injury, the 33-year old Boucher was hoping to get a shot at the starting job, saying: "I'm going to give it my best shot. But whatever role they decide to give me, I will be a team guy and accept it.

"Having played down the stretch there into the playoffs last year, I felt really good about it. I feel like I can contribute if needed."

Last season was up and down for the Flyers' 1995 first-round draft pick.

After six NHL stops, the Rhode Island native signed a two-year contract to return to Philadelphia on July 1 to back up Ray Emery. Boucher took over the starting role when Emery suffered a hip injury early in the season.

But after injuring his right hand, Boucher was replaced by Leighton before regaining the spotlight late in the regular season when Leighton suffered a high-ankle sprain.

One of Boucher's highlights came in a 2-1 shoot-out win over the New York Rangers in the regular-season finale. He stopped 24 of 25 shots and two of three in the shoot-out to help the Flyers reach the playoffs.

In his last four starts of the regular season, he was 3-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.

Boucher continued to play well in the postseason before leaving Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston with injured knees. He returned for the Stanley Cup Finals against Chicago. Boucher saw action in relief of Leighton in Games 1 and 5.

He stopped 22 of 26 shots in his two finals appearances.

Boucher also looked good in Thursday's exhibition game against the Leafs in London, Ontario. He stopped 20 of 21 shots in two periods of action in his first preseason appearance. The Flyers lost a 3-2 shoot-out. But they were up, 2-1, before Sergei Bobrovsky replaced Boucher to start the third period.

"I was pleased with it," Boucher said of his performance. "I felt good. I felt sharp. I felt like I had some jump. So, overall, I think it's a good start."

He called training camp "an ongoing process."

"I think the goal is to feel really good about yourself come the start of the season," he said. "So, I think some days will be good, some days will be bad."

Kris Versteeg and Phil Kessel each scored a second-period goal Friday night to give the Leafs a 2-0 advantage. Nikolai Zherdev netted the first of his two goals to cut the deficit with 1 minute, 46 seconds remaining in the period. His second goal, in the third period, pulled the Flyers within a goal, at 3-2. Briere's goal with 2:16 left forced overtime.

Busy Friday. The Flyers had a 9:30 morning skate before boarding a plane to Toronto at 2:15 p.m. After the game, the team flew to Minnesota for Saturday's 8 p.m. matchup with Minnesota.