Inside the Panthers’ goalie debate: Bobrovsky, Driedger or Knight for must-win Game 5?
The Florida Panthers felt good about Chris Driedger after he held the Tampa Bay Lightning to two goals in Game 2 on Tuesday. They felt good about Sergei Bobrovsky after he came on in relief Thursday and shut out the Lightning for the final 25:56 of their Game 3 comeback.
Now they don’t feel great about either of their goaltenders with an elimination game looming Monday in Sunrise.
Two days after benching Driedger for Bobrovsky at the end of the second period, the Panthers benched Bobrovsky for Driedger midway through the second period of a 6-2 loss at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay scored six goals on 26 shots to take a commanding 3-1 series lead and Joel Quenneville will now have another decision to make in net.
Unlike before Game 4, this one won’t be easy.
“We’ll talk about it,” Quenneville said. “We’ll reconvene and look at options.”
On Thursday, Driedger gave up five goals on 12 shots and prompted Florida to bench him during the second intermission. On Saturday, Bobrovsky gave up five goals on 13 shots and prompted the Panthers to bench him with 12:45 left in the second.
In relief, Driedger gave up one goal on 12 shots. It was not the stalwart relief performance Bobrovsky delivered in Game 3 and leaves Florida without any clear answers for its must-win Game 5.
“It’s 3-1 after one and then they score early,” Quenneville said. “They score the fifth goal — it was just trying to do something different was the thought process on that, slow their momentum down maybe and get some momentum, but a four-goal lead is rather large.”
Bobrovsky has a case — four of the five goals came on either deflections or breakaways and he has fared better than Driedger against high-danger chances this series. Driedger has a case — he was tied for fourth in the NHL in save percentage in the regular season and only allowed a power-play goal Saturday.
Spencer Knight, though, has the most interesting case.
The goaltender has not yet dressed in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. He was just playing for the Boston College Eagles in March and only made his NHL debut in April. If he gets into a game, he’ll be the first 19-year-old goalie to appear in the postseason since 1995.
At this point, he might be the best option.
In four regular-season appearances, Knight went 4-0 with a 2.32 goals against average and .919 save percentage. He’s the No. 27 prospect in hockey, according to ESPN.com, and has a big-game pedigree after shutting out Canada to help the United States win the gold medal at the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in January.
While Quenneville didn’t specifically mention Knight in his postgame press conference Saturday, the coach never ruled out the rookie as a postseason possibility, simply pointing to a “batting order” for his three goalies in the final days of the regular season.
“I don’t want to say never,” Quenneville said May 6, “but I think that the other guys are the candidates and we’re going to go from there.”
If the Panthers are searching for momentum and playing with nothing to lose, Knight should be under consideration when the first-round series resumes at the BB&T Center.
This story was originally published May 22, 2021 at 5:25 PM.
