Evgeni Nabokov, 39, is in the twilight of his career and at this point, it has to be asked: How many more chances will he get?
The Philadelphia Flyers chased him tonight after he surrendered four goals on just 13 shots. Although to be fair, Ben Bishop hasn’t been able to contain Philadelphia tonight either.
Chris VandeVelde and R.J. Umberger each beat Nabokov in the first period, but what ultimately sank the veteran goaltender were the goals scored by Jakub Voracek and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare just 51 seconds apart in the second frame.
This could be chalked up to a rough night if it were an isolated incident, but Nabokov had a .892 save percentage in 10 contests going into this game. Andrei Vasilevskiy has proven to be an appealing alternative in his four games with Tampa Bay this season, although the 20-year-old will get more playing time in the minors as Bishop has a firm hold on the starting gig in Tampa Bay.
