PHILADELPHIA -- In a nutshell, goaltending-wise, the Bruins have it made. They have this season's best goaltender, and just in case anything might happen to Tim Thomas, they have last season's best goaltender in Tuukka Rask. Having two netminders as capable as Thomas and Rask is a rare thing, and if the Bruins are wondering what life might be like without the two of them, perhaps all they need to do is look down to the other end of the ice. 

The Flyers have yanked their starting goaltender an astonishing four times in eight games this postseason, meaning that when either Brian Boucher or Sergei Bobrovsky (or, in the case of Game 6 of the quarterfinals, Michael Leighton) skates to the net to start a game, you can flip a coin as to whether they'll still be there when the final seconds tick off the clock. 

“I think there are only so many times you can make a change before you run out of nine lives,” Boucher told reporters after Sunday’s practice. “… Everybody has to prepare individually and collectively we got to go out there and do it as a group.”

The most recent case of this came in the Bruins' Game 1 victory at Wells Fargo Center Saturday. After allowing five goals through less than two periods (including the ultimate softie from Mark Recchi), Boucher was taken out of the game in favor of Bobrovsky, who went on to allow a pair of third-period goals to round out what would be a tag-team showing of below average goaltending for Philadelphia. 

“You start to wonder how many times can you make a change,” Boucher said. “Last night we made a goalie change and if it would have held true to form we would’ve come back and won that game. Obviously last night didn’t go that way. That’s what I mean -- sometimes it isn’t going to make a difference.” 

It’s quite a change from what the Bruins dealt with a series ago. Aside from a few blunders, Carey Price was one of the best players in the entire series between the B’s and Montreal. Whether it’s going against a top goaltender like price or facing the inconsistent bunch in Philadelphia, the Bruins don’t feel their approach should change. 

“No matter who the goalie is, definitely what you want to do as a team is try to get after the goaltender,” Milan Lucic said Sunday. “Obviously last series, it was really tough with Carey Price. This year, a big thing for us was that we were able to get that early goal, and we kind of rolled with it, so I think looking at it so far in the playoffs, when we've gotten that first goal, our record's pretty goal.”

Just because the Flyers have seen an uneasy goaltending carousel does not mean they can be counted out. Looking back to the Flyers' quarterfinals series vs. the Sabres could tell you that. 

Boucher came on in relief in two first-round games, and the Flyers ended up winning both contests. After Bobrovsky allowed three goals in the first 12:30 of Game 2 with the Flyers having already lost the series' first game, Boucher allowed one goal the rest of the way as the Flyers evened the series with a 5-4 victory. In Game 6, Leighton allowed three first-period goals and was replaced by Boucher for the rest of the game, which would go into overtime. Boucher gave up one goal in the final 44:43 of what would end up a 5-4 OT win.

Still, despite the performances Boucher has been able to give the team in relief, the Flyers are 2-2 in games when they’ve had to yank their starter. It would seem that if the Flyers want to make a run that ends with a certain trophy, more dependable goaltending play would be No. 1 on their wish list. Sure, the Bruins have their own “how is this happening?” stat of their power play’s 0-for-26 showing this postseason, but they’ve only had to suffer through man advantages two minutes at a time.

So what do the Flyers’ goaltending woes mean to the Bruins? Not a whole lot. 

“Whatever's happening for Philly, it's their thing,” Zdeno Chara said Sunday. “I can't really talk about that or make comments on that. That's totally up to them.”

In a way, Chara’s both right and wrong. It’s up to the Flyers to figure out how to deal with their issues in net, but it’s up to the Bruins to find a way to take advantage of them by creating traffic in front and getting as many pucks on net as possible. Saturday was certainly a good start.