Flyers' Bobrovsky and Boucher competing in goal

With 35 games left in the regular season, there is no way to gauge which of the Flyers' dependable goalies - rookie Sergei Bobrovsky or veteran Brian Boucher - will get most of the playoff action.

"We're a long way from the playoffs and still sorting it out," goalie coach Jeff Reese said after Friday's practice in Voorhees. "I know it's a cliché, but we're going one game at a time . . . and who gives us the best chance to win that night."

Because of his success against New Jersey in last spring's playoffs and this season, Boucher is expected to face the suddenly resurgent Devils at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Flyers will try to become the first expansion-era (post-1967-68) team to register 1,000 wins at home.

Throughout the season, coach Peter Laviolette has opted for the goalie with the hot hand. From Oct. 26 to Nov. 18, he went with Bobrovsky for a 12-game stretch mostly because he was so effective and partially because the confident 22-year-old Russian told the coaches he would not lose for a month.

Beginning Dec. 11, Boucher started eight of 12 games. Bobrovsky has started three of the last four contests.

"Right now, Lavvy is going with his gut," Reese said, later adding that he and Laviolette also look at a goalie's history against teams and factor that into their decision.

The goalies have similar numbers. Bobrovsky is 19-6-3 with a 2.49 goals-against average and .918 save percentage, while Boucher is 11-5-2 with a 2.43 GAA and .916 save percentage.

Rotating goalies in the playoffs rarely produces a Stanley Cup champion, "but in the regular season, I'm totally fine with it," Boucher said. "It keeps both of us sharp. And if you decide to go with one guy in the playoffs, the other guy is still sharp."

Boucher, 34, said he is much better at this stage of his career than in his younger years, when he said he was "naive," had a "dumb approach," and played with too much emotion.

On Saturday, the Flyers will be facing a Devils team that, though last in the NHL with 31 points, is on a 4-0-1 run. That streak followed a 2-1 loss to the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 8.

"The Devils are not the same team they were 20 days ago," Laviolette said. "They beat Tampa Bay twice. They've beaten Pittsburgh."

This is the latest the Flyers (31-11-5, 67 points) have been atop the NHL since 1984-85. The Flyers also lead the league in goals per game (3.47), while the Devils are last (1.96).

The Flyers, winners of four straight and nine of 11, have eight players who have reached double figures in goals, led by Danny Briere (25), Jeff Carter (20), Claude Giroux (18), Mike Richards (17), and Scott Hartnell (16).

Phantoms back in town. In an AHL game Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center, the Adirondack Phantoms scored twice in the third period en route to a 4-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Breakaways. The Flyers are 13-0 when Richards scores a goal. . . . In his last four games against New Jersey, Boucher is 3-0-1 with a 1.23 goals-against average.