Peter Laviolette took a risk last night in starting rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky rather than making the safe move of giving the nod to veteran Brian Boucher. I have to admit that I probably would not have done that if I had been in Laviolette's shoes, but the coach came up smelling like a rose. Bobrovsky turned in a strong NHL debut in a high-pressure atmosphere. It doesn't get much tougher in the regular season than playing Pittsburgh in its brand new home building in front of an energized crowd.

The Russian netminder held the Flyers in the game through a slow start, and played a major part in the club's victory. You can't help but be impressed by Bobrovsky's athleticism, and perhaps the most heartening thing about him is that he's very eager to receive coaching to continue to improve. His potential as an NHL goalie is obvious.

But before we all get too carried away with proclaiming Bobrovsky the answer to all the Flyers' goaltending question marks (both short-term and long-term), keep three things in mind:

1) The league doesn't have a scouting "book" on Bobrovsky yet. Hockey is a game of adjustments. Before long, teams will figure out his strengths (lateral movement, quick glove, closes the five-hole quickly) and potential weaknesses (still largely untested on the stick side, plus it remains to be seen how good his rebound control). It will then be up to Bobrovsky to make the necessary adjustments.

2) Everything has gone smoothly so far for him. That's what you want, of course, but eventually he's going to face adversity. That's where you really learn about a player, especially a goaltender.

3) He is still going to need time to get fully acclimated to the North American rink and game. Bobrovsky seems to have good mechanics and already be adjusting to the angles, but only rarely does the process go off without a few hiccups along the way.

That said, Bobrovsky appears to be the type of goaltender who remains calm under pressure. After his performance last night, he's earned another start.

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Hopefully Paul Holmgren had good reason to declare that Claude Giroux's ankle injury last night was no big deal, and the X-ray he underwent after the game was strictly a case of erring on the side of caution. I suspect that was the case in this instance, or else Homer would have said something along the lines of "It doesn't seem too serious, but we'll have re-evaluate him tomorrow and see."

Unfortunately, when it comes to hockey teams and injury reports (not just the Flyers, but they are often among the biggest culprits in downplaying injuries that end of keeping the player out of the lineup), you can't place much faith in their reports until the player is on the ice.

As for Giroux's shorthanded goal last night, it was a thing of beauty. He took full advantage of an ill-advised back pass from Kris Letang to Paul Martin. Martin had little chance to avoid being stripped of the puck, and then Giroux put a nifty move on Marc-Andre Fleury.

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Quick roster note: With Michael Leighton now on LTIR, the Flyers have officially called up Andreas Nodl.


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Today's Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at the October doldrums that often befall defending Stanley Cup champions. Even if Chicago hadn't lost last night (a 4-3 overtime defeat in Colorado), I would be of the opinion that the Hawks will have to guard against a letdown early this season. They also have to integrate a lot of new supporting cast players, plus a new goalie. I think Chicago will be fine as the regular season progresses, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see them play .500 hockey for the first month or so of the season.

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