The Matchup: Brian Boucher vs. Scott Gomez

The Question: Are they finally rebounding from sophomore slumps?

Brian Boucher

Scott Gomez

Struggles part of learning process
The early second-year struggles of Scott Gomez and Brian Boucher are the next phase in their learning process. As rookies a year ago, they were able to get a good roll of confidence going and never experienced any sustained letdowns. Now that they have had some tough times, they might be over trying too hard to recreate the success they had last year. A goaltender like Boucher is like a young phenom pitcher in baseball. Until the players get a book on him, a goaltender can get off to a fast start and get full of confidence. It takes awhile for players to get a handle on a goaltender, finding out what his weaknesses are. The more they test him and try different things, they start to find out what he can or can't do. Boucher has gone through a little bit of that. He's been around longer now, and players have a better idea of his strengths and weaknesses.

The entire Flyers team got off to a rocky start, and that always reflects on the goaltender. It's tough for Boucher if the team is not scoring goals. They are playing poorly on the penalty kill and are taking penalties. But once a player's confidence gets rocked, it doesn't matter if he has been in the league 15 years.

The encouraging thing for Boucher is that, entering Wednesday's game, he is 2-0-1 in his last three starts, which included a shutout of the Rangers.

Every mistake a goalie makes is exposed and is easy to quantify; he either stopped the shot and let it get by him for a goal. It is easier to critique Boucher than it is to critique a skater like Gomez. A skater might not be scoring, but he might be playing a solid all-around game.

And Gomez has been a very busy lad. He may be in a position to have more of a Stanley Cup hangover than every other player on the Devils because he was an All-Star, Rookie of the Year and a champion in his first year. That is a whirlwind season. Gomez did a good job of holding himself together the entire year when he was getting so much attention -- attention he deserved.

Because of last season and his age, he has suffered a little bit of a hangover. It's human nature. Gomez just has to press on and deal with the present. He has a good work ethic, so he should be able to put everything behind him.

Gomez went nine games without a goal until finally scoring two on Monday against Washington. It's humbling when his numbers aren't the same. Statistics are easy to assess, especially when Gomez had such great numbers from last year. He will put pressure on himself to score more goals, but talk to any goal scorer -- Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman and Mark Messier -- and they will say the same thing: When you press and try for the numbers, they won't come.

Gomez has taken more shots (35) than anyone on the Devils. Volume helps because a shooter needs to keep shooting. The puck will go in the net sooner or later. He obviously understands scoring droughts and has experienced them before. He played on some rotten junior teams, so he knows what it's like to struggle.

On a long-term basis, no one should worry about Gomez or Boucher. Their solid rookie seasons indicate their ability to adapt quickly to the NHL, and it appears they are already making quick recoveries.

Brian Engblom is a color commentator and analyst for ESPN's NHL coverage. He played 11 seasons in the NHL.