Should Tarasov get more playing time? And more thoughts after Panthers’ road trip
Sergei Bobrovsky is the Florida Panthers’ starting goaltender. There’s no disputing that. The Panthers are unwavering in their support for the veteran netminder, who has come up with his share of big moments on his way to helping the Panthers win the Stanley Cup each of the past two seasons.
But his backup is in the midst of a pretty good run right now.
Daniil Tarasov strung together a pair of quality outings during Florida’s 3-0-0 road trip, stopping 17 of 18 shots in Florida’s 2-1 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday and had 19 saves in the Panthers’ 5-1 win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
Overall, Tarasov has won all four of his games so far in January with a .944 save percentage (85 saves on 90 shots against) in that span.
“Every game, I’m feeling more confident, especially when the guys in front of me are playing unbelievable,” Tarasov told reporters postgame Sunday in Chicago. “They didn’t give any chances in the past two games that I’ve played.”
Added defenseman Gustav Forsling: “So calm, so steady. It makes it very easy for the D core. He gives us a lot of confidence.”
Which begs the question: Should Tarasov get more playing time down the stretch of the season as Florida continues to push for a Stanley Cup playoff spot? The Panthers (28-20-3, 59 points) are three points back of the Boston Bruins (30-20-2, 62 points) for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card and four points behind the Montreal Canadiens (28-17-7, 63 points) for the top wild card spot with a game in hand on each entering play Monday. They are also four points back of the Buffalo Sabres (29-17-5, 63 points) for third place in the Eastern Conference with the same number of games played.
Tarasov has also outplayed Bobrovsky thus far this season, albeit in more limited action.
Tarasov is 8-6-2 on the season with a 2.53 goals against average and .908 save percentage in 16 starts. He has allowed 3 goals or fewer in 12 of 16 starts.
Bobrovsky, meanwhile, is 20-14-1 through 35 starts. While he has been brilliant at times — his three shutouts are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL — Bobrovsky has had far more clunkers than usual and his overall stats on the season have suffered because of it.
His .875 save percentage would be a single-season career-worst if season ended today, while his 3.08 goals against average is on pace for his worst since first season with Florida when he had a 3.23 mark in 50 games in the 2019-20 season.
Bobrovsky has had nine games with four-plus goals allowed, including six with five-plus goals allowed.
With that said, don’t expect too much altering of the course. Panthers goaltending coach Robb Tallas maps out the goaltenders’ schedule for the season well in advance and rarely deviates from that plan. By the end of the regular season, it usually works out to be about a two-to-one split, with Bobrovsky starting somewhere between 50 and 55 games and his backup getting around 30 games in net.
The condensed schedule the Panthers face the rest of the way due to the Olympic break in February works in Tarasov’s favor to get more playing time. Florida has six sets of back-to-backs over their final 32 games, meaning at least a half-dozen more starts for Tarasov are all but guaranteed.
As for the remaining 20 games? Don’t expect it to be a 50-50 split, but if Tarasov getting the net five to eight times would be about on par with how Florida has operated in past years. Bobrovsky is a creature of habit. He lives around his routine. And should the Panthers make the postseason, they need him at his best physically and mentally to be ready for what they hope will be another long playoff run.
More road trip thoughts
▪ What a difference the returns of Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand have made. The star wingers both returned to action last week — Tkachuk on Monday against San Jose, Marchand Saturday against Minnesota — and their impact was felt immediately. Tkachuk has three assists in four games. Marchand had a three-point outing against Minnesota, including scoring the game-winner in overtime. But more importantly, they allow coach Paul Maurice to spread out his forward depth again and roll out four competitive lines that can make an impact on both ends of the ice.
▪ Mackie Samoskevich’s go-ahead goal in the third period against Chicago on Sunday had to be a sigh of relief. He had gone 18 consecutive games without finding the back of the net but not for a lack of effort. That stretch included 39 shots on goal, 73 total shot attempts and nearly five expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. Samoskevich has the speed and shot to make an impact offensively at the NHL level. Maybe seeing one go in the back of the net for the first time in a while provides a needed spark.
▪ Defenseman Tobias Bjornfot’s two goals against Chicago — his first goals in the NHL since 2021 — were a welcome reward for what has been a solid five-game run for him. Bjornfot is in the lineup as Florida continues to be without Dmitry Kulikov and Seth Jones for the forseeable future. He has been steady on Florida’s third pair with Jeff Petry. In about 56 minutes at five-on-five over this five-game stretch, Florida has outshot opponents 27-18 with Bjornfot on the ice and outscored them 3-1.
▪ Florida has six games remaining before the Olympic break, four of which are on home ice. It starts Tuesday against the Utah Mammoth at Amerant Bank Arena (7 p.m., Scripps Sports). The rest of the schedule: Thursday at the St. Louis Blues (8 p.m., Scripps Sports), home Saturday against Winnipeg (4 p.m., Scripps Sports), home Monday against Buffalo (7 p.m., Scripps Sports), home Feb. 4 against Boston (7 p.m., TNT) and at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 5 (7:30 p.m., ESPN+/Hulu).
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