Bryzgalov's uneven play most disappointing part of Flyers' otherwise solid start

With the season just past the quarter pole, the resilient Flyers deserve a solid B for their all-around play.

Solid, but ironic.

It's ironic because the grade would be higher if their biggest off-season addition - goalie Ilya Bryzgalov - had been performing as expected.

In the season's first seven weeks, Bryzgalov - the chatty, likeable Russian whom the Flyers presented with a nine-year, $51 million deal in the off-season - has been an enigma.

Bryzgalov, 31, has shown signs of dominance. Witness the six-game span in which he went 5-0-1 with a 1.66 goals-against average.

He has also shown signs of being easily distracted. He appeared to lose focus early in the season and labored through a four-game losing streak in which his goals-against average was 5.05 and his save percentage was .802. That left him exasperated, saying he was "lost in the woods" and had "zero confidence."

That was followed by the aforementioned six games of excellence, which seemed to suggest that his swagger had returned.

But that was followed by a pair of lackluster efforts as he allowed seven goals over four periods - and was pulled after the opening stanza against the Islanders on Wednesday. The Flyers trailed at the time, 3-1, but Sergei Bobrovsky was flawless in relief to key a 4-3 win. That earned Bobrovsky another start, and he responded brilliantly with a 3-1 win over Montreal on Friday. He also started Saturday against the Rangers.

That said, the Flyers didn't shell out so much money to have Bryzgalov as their backup, so he figures to get the majority of the starts the rest of the way.

For the Flyers, the good news is this: The player they call "Bryz" has four-plus months to get his game in order for the real season.

That's ample time to create more chemistry with his defensemen and build confidence going into the playoffs, where, by the way, he has not exactly resembled Bernard Marcel Parent.

The Flyers have had many positives, including Claude Giroux's rise as a bona-fide league MVP candidate, the blossoming of rookies Matt Read and Sean Couturier, Jaromir Jagr's excellence when healthy, and the way most of the team - despite 10 new players this season - has meshed so quickly.

Bryzgalov's uneven play has been the most disappointing part.

When the Flyers signed him, many of us thought they had solved their longstanding goalie problem. Finally, they had someone who would not only provide consistency but would actually steal some games with his acrobatic play.

Entering Friday, Bryzgalov was 37th in goals-against average (2.97) among NHL goalies who had played at least five games, and he was 42d in save percentage at .897.

Along the way, he has diffused some difficult off-ice situations. With dignity and class.

First, there were his two former Coyotes teammates - defensemen Derek Morris and Adrian Aucoin - who harshly criticized him on a Phoenix radio station.

It was strange because it was Bryzgalov, more than anyone, who carried Phoenix into the playoffs last season. The criticism was misplaced, but Bryzgalov took the high road and said that he wished the players no ill will and that he thought they did a good job in front of him.

A few days later, Bryzgalov was in the middle of more controversy. While with Phoenix last season, he had made some, um, unflattering remarks about the city of Winnipeg when it looked as if the Coyotes might move there. Predictably, the Winnipeg newspapers and airways were filled with anger when the Flyers arrived there to play the Jets on Nov. 19.

Bryzgalov, perhaps because coach Peter Laviolette was being over-protective and sensing the fans would give his goalie lots of verbal abuse, didn't start against Winnipeg. But he apologized to the Jets fans, saying he didn't mean to offend anyone and that "I'm pretty sure it's good people, beautiful people [who] live in Winnipeg."

And when an 8-year-old boy held up a sign in warm-ups that read "BOO BRYZGALOV," the goalie skated up to him and handed him his stick.

When you watch how Bryzgalov interacts with people, when you hear his humorous locker-room schtick and his openness, it's difficult not to root for him.

He has lots of character, lots of great qualities, lots of desire to turn around a season that has been filled with more mediocrity that greatness.

Bryzgalov deserves the benefit of the doubt. He is getting acclimated to a new team - and the pressure of playing in a hockey-crazed market, as opposed to being in laid-back, apathetic Phoenix.

The bottom line: He has several months to demonstrate that the eye-opening, generous contract he signed was worth it. And to show that the sign the young Winnipeg boy held was way off base.