Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers shut out Carolina to move within one win of Stanley Cup Finals
The Florida Panthers’ first home game in the Eastern Conference finals since 1996 started with a montage of everyone on the roster. It’s the way every one of their games during the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs begins. A photo of each player flashes across the big screen, accompanied by their nickname and a few seconds pass to let the crowd cheer.
It’s a way to recognize every individual who has made this season possible and — as strange as it might have seemed just a month ago — no one’s ovation was louder or longer than Sergei Bobrovsky’s. The star goaltender was the biggest reason they took control of the East finals by beating the Carolina Hurricanes twice on the road, and he was almost the entire reason they beat them 1-0 in Game 3 on Monday to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
The 34-year-old Russian, who’s the highest-paid goalie in the NHL and spent three mediocre regular seasons as the source of so many frustrations for the Panthers’ long-suffering fan base, now has Florida one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals.
“We’re happy with the W, we’re happy with the win, but next game is going to be a great game,” Bobrovsky said.
He stopped all 32 shots he faced Monday after stopping 37 of 38 in Game 2 on Saturday, 63 of 65 in Game 1 on Wednesday and 50 of 52 in final game of Round 2 on May 12, and the Panthers have won all three. In total, he has stopped 182 of the 187 shots he faced, has allowed just one goal in essentially three and a half games — he shut out the Hurricanes four the final 97 minutes of Game 1 as it went to four overtimes — and his .935 save percentage in the Cup playoffs is the best among all goaltenders to play at least nine games.
He was fairly maligned for almost three full seasons in South Florida — never posting a save percentage better than .913 in any of the three regular seasons since he signed a seven-year, $70 million deal with the Panthers in 2019 — and none of it matters now because of what he’s doing in these playoffs.
All Florida managed on offense Monday was one measly power-play goal from forward Sam Reinhart with 9:51 left in the second period and Bobrovsky handled the rest. The Panthers have now won 10 of 11, all since dropping three of four to the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins to start Round 1, and all 10 of those victories have been by one or two goals.
“He was his usual self, I would say,” defenseman Radko Gudas said. “It’s great that he’s feeling good and us as a D corps, I think we take a big emphasis in boxing guys out, making sure he sees most of the pucks and making his life easier because he’s making our life easier.”
Carolina outshot Florida, 32-17, and yet the Panthers felt their defensive effort was sound. The Hurricanes only had 12 high-danger chances and six rebound attempts. Florida blocked shots — 22 of them — and cleaned up just about every rebound Bobrovsky gave up. The Panthers are in sync with their goaltender in a way they haven’t been in three years.
It all made for a relatively drama-free victory. Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference finals each went to overtime, and Game 1 wound up being the sixth-longest game in NHL history. Carolina scored first in each of those first two games, forcing Florida to rally twice to win.
Six of the Panthers’ past 10 victories took overtime and six required comebacks. The 11th didn’t need either.
Reinhart’s goal, assisted by center Sam Bennett and superstar right wing Matthew Tkachuk on a well-executed play off an offensive-zone face-off win, held up.
Reinhart, who had three shots, also blocked three shots, as did Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling, and fellow defenseman Josh Mahura blocked four. In all, 12 of Florida’s 18 skaters blocked shots — Tkachuk and Bennett each had one, to go along with three and two shots, respectively — and one of the only ones who didn’t was All-Star defenseman Aleksander Barkov, who only played 3:51 before leaving with a lower-body injury in the first period.
The captain’s status was the only bit of drama: Florida listed him as questionable and he never returned, leaving his status for Game 4 on Wednesday unknown.
With or without him, the Panthers can clinch a trip to its first Cup Finals since 1996. It was only their third season of existence and they followed it up with a quarter of a century of first-round exits — and usually worse — before finally breaking through in the last two seasons.
Last year, Florida won a postseason series for the first time since those 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs. This year, it won a game in Round 2 for the first time since then, getting all the way to the Eastern Conference finals and now the brink of the Finals.
Just last month, it took the Panthers until the final week of the regular season to clinch its spot in the Cup playoffs. Now they’re closer to a Stanley Cup than anyone and can become the first team into the Finals on Wednesday.
This story was originally published May 22, 2023 at 10:46 PM.
