Bobrovsky bounces back but Flyers fall to Penguins in shootout

IMAGINE, FOR 1 second, that Sergei Bobrovsky and Claude Giroux - two of the Flyers' youngest tikes - took a break from the Wells Fargo Center and walked across Broad Street to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia.

The weather, like the Flyers' status in the Eastern Conference, is breezy and comfortable - even though a few clouds are starting to roll in.

Of all the things to do in FDR Park, like tennis, baseball, golf, or even skateboarding, Bobrovsky and Giroux - symbolic of the Flyers' goaltending and offense - likely would be glued to the seesaw.

Because that's how the Flyers have played this week in their two biggest games of the regular season.

There has been no balance.

When the offense is up - like when the Flyers scored four goals Tuesday against a Washington team that had allowed just 17 goals in its previous 11 games - the goaltending has been down. Bobrovsky was beaten three times in 22 minutes, only to be replaced by Brian Boucher, who gave up goals on all three shootout attempts.

When the goaltending is up - like when Bobrovsky stood on his head last night for 30 saves, including numerous point-blank stops against Pittsburgh in the third period and overtime - the offense whiffed on three power-play chances and could generate only 20 shots on net, tying a season low.

Now, the Flyers are teetering on something ugly.

With last night's 2-1 shootout loss to visiting Pittsburgh, the Flyers have conceded a point to both of the teams in hottest pursuit of them in the Eastern Conference standings.

"We tried everything, but for some reason we weren't good enough,'' defenseman Andrej Meszaros said. "We played a great game against Washington and we talked about [following] it up. We just didn't do it for some reason. I can't explain that.''

For the team that has held first place in the conference since Jan. 4, it's hard to explain. With a single point in the shootout loss, their fourth consecutive shootout game, the Flyers increased their lead over idle Washington to two points, with a game in hand. More alarming, the Flyers' lead over Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division has been trimmed to four points. The Flyers have one game in hand but the teams will meet again for the final time next week across the commonwealth.

Falling behind Pittsburgh would drop the Flyers from first to fourth place in the East, since the NHL seeds division winners first.

About the only silver lining was that Bobrovsky, taking his turn on the up side of the seesaw, showed his mettle and repaid his debts from Tuesday's loss.

Bobrovsky didn't take his second shot at playoff starter for granted. Instead, he looked like the Calder candidate of last Saturday in Dallas, making key stop after stop, from a first-period Tyler Kennedy breakaway to a blocker save on Kris Letang in overtime.

"That's the definition of a pro; when you don't have your great game, bouncing back and responding extremely well,'' captain Mike Richards said. "It was great to see him get us that point. It should have been two.''

Bobrovsky said that every stop he made helped rebuild his confidence. He knew he didn't have much room for error with Boucher waiting on the bench.

"Every time you stop the puck, you actually get more confident,'' Bobrovsky said with the help of a translator. "Every time the coach trusts me to go out, it's important to me. I'm not happy because we lost, but I'm happy that I made a lot of stops.''

The only problem was that his teammates didn't force Marc-Andre Fleury to make a lot of stops at the other end. The Flyers went the first 13:29 of the third period without a shot on net.

"We were just reluctant to shoot the puck tonight, in a lot of areas,'' Richards said. "And we didn't get a lot of sustained offense because of it.''

Meszaros called the Flyers' effort "embarrassing.''

"We didn't play good the whole game,'' he said. "They outskated us, outbattled us, they outshot us. They did everything better than us in our own building, so that was embarrassing. We can't have those kind of games this close to the playoffs.''

After the game, coach Peter Laviolette had a tough time explaining his team's inconsistency. The Flyers haven't been able to follow one solid effort with another since the middle of February.

"There's no excuse for it,'' Laviolette said. "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.''

Yes, Bobrovsky answered the questions that were lingering around his game regarding his playoff capabilities. That's one positive that you couldn't have said about the Flyers 3 days ago.

"We didn't have any lingering questions, you [media] guys did,'' Laviolette said. "We all said and thought he played great in Dallas. He had an off night the other night. Everybody acknowledged it. He came back and was a difference-maker. He was a real bright spot.''

Last night was Bobrovsky's fun ride on the seesaw. Whether there is a return trip for the offense on the seesaw - or if the Flyers can balance their equilibrium before April 13 - is still up in the air.

Linesman Pierre Champoux left the game with an illness after the first period, forcing the game to be finished with three officials instead of four . . . The crowd of 19,902 was a season high at the Wells Fargo Center . . . The Flyers are 3-6 in games decided by shootout.

For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at

www.philly.com/FrequentFlyers. Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.