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Gut-Cech time Flyers' netminder needs to avoid giving up soft goalsPosted: Saturday May 03, 2003 7:32 PM
Roman Cechmanek is proving every time-honored cliché when it comes to goaltending and a team's long-term viability in the playoffs. When Cechmanek is on his game, the Flyers win. When he is not, they lose. Against the Senators, that has been a game-to-game proposition. In Games 1, 3 and 5, Cechmanek struggled, while in Games 2 and 4, he posted shutouts. The good news is that if the trend continues, Cechmanek and the Flyers can look forward to a shutout on Monday. In Game 5, however, Cechmanek's inconsistency came crashing down around his teammates. After the Flyers took a 1-0 lead for the fifth straight game, Cechmanek whiffed on a fluttering wrist shot from just inside the blueline by Bryan Smolinski. It only counts as one goal against, but it did much more damage. That unexpected gift gave Ottawa life, but more to the point, it simultaneously stopped Philadelphia in mid-flight. The combination had the predictable effect on the outcome. The Sens established a skating flow that was absent in Game 4 and forced the flat-footed Flyers into taking penalties. Ottawa converted twice with the man advantage, ultimately chasing Cechmanek midway through the game once the Sens were up comfortably at 4-1. Cechmanek gave up a poor rebound on the third goal and looked flustered on Ottawa's fourth goal. But, the entire sequence went back to the first goal. Is it fair that one goal against can mean so much? No. The Flyers have other issues to deal with, too, not the least of which is the poor performance of their special teams. But they couldn't even get to that line of thinking. If soft goals were a rarity, this one wouldn't have had such a profound effect. Unfortunately, there is a litany of stoppable shots that have eluded the unorthodox Cechmanek in his background. His teammates have seen it before. They recognized the signs and couldn't overcome the human tendency to fall prey to disappointment and dissatisfaction. While Philadelphia silently bemoaned the uneven play of its netminder, Ottawa seized the moment. Never has the saying that a goalie is "judged by the goals he gives up, rather than the saves he makes" seemed more apropos than in the case of the Flyers' beleaguered netminder. Three StarsFirst Star: Highly skilled youngster Martin Havlat gave another pesky performance. Second Star: Game in, game out, Marian Hossa is the catalyst to the Sens' attack. Third Star: Bryan Smolinski scored a goal, but he also played another dependable game in the middle against Jeremy Roenick. Darren Eliot, a former NHL goaltender, is a hockey analyst for SI.com. Eliot will provide Stanley Cup Playoffs commentary throughout the postseason and is also broadcasting games for NHL Radio. |
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