Bernie Parent thinks that Peter Laviolette's decision to play Ilya Bryzgalov over Sergei Bobrovsky against Pittsburgh is the right call.

In a wide-ranging interview with reporters tonight, Parent defended Bryzgalov, while saying he still has to improve on his game.

Bryz's penchant for giving up a soft goal every night is going to doom the Flyers if this continues into the playoffs. His poor save percentage when the Flyers are shorthanded - .837 _ is a major concern, as well.

“Is this the playoffs?” Laviolette asked me when I pressed him on Bryzgalov. “Bryz is starting tonight, and we have all the confidence in the world that he will go in there and battle for this team. That’s not to take negatively about Bob, because I’m not. I’m talking about Bryz, and he’s the guy right now.”

Here's Parent's take:

On how Bryz sometimes seems to let things bother him:

“He’s a guy who went from Phoenix to Philly and it’s a different place to play here. Also, it takes time for a goalie to adjust to h is defensemen. The understanding of the game. It’s not just good enough to stop the shot.

"You have to see what the left hand shot does and how the defenseman plays the left hand shot or how the defense plays the right hand shot. That helps you anticipate to be in the right place at the right time. And that takes time. It takes time to study your defensemen. I see a lot of good things in him.

“We were down 3-0 and he stayed strong and we came back and won the game. So I like the way he plays. Is there room for improvement? Of course. You never graduate as a goalie but I really like what I see."

Too many bad goals?

“You know what, I think the focus should be on the good things he does and let him improve on that. I think we have a good goalie there."

Think Lavy is starting him to make him get his game together?

“The coach is a heckuva of a coach. I love this guy. We’re blessed to have him on the team. It’s like a pitcher psychologically. You have to be very careful of your players, especially, a goalie.

"I think he handles him real well. It’s a matter of confidence. The more games you play, you understand your team. The more you believe in them, the more they believe in you and then you grow as a team. Very, very important..."

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