How Panthers will handle goaltenders the rest of the season. And latest on Ekblad
Sergei Bobrovsky is the proven veteran. Spencer Knight is on a bit of a hot streak.
How does that impact how Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice is going to handle reps between his two goaltenders as the rest of the regular season progresses?
Not that much, if at all, per the coach.
Maurice said he and goaltender coach Robb Tallas plan out the schedule for both netminders well in advance and the Panthers plan to stick with that schedule.
“I am not flipping back-and-forth on performance right now,” Maurice said.
With the way things are planned out, Maurice said the split will be about 50 starts for Bobrovsky and 30 for Knight. Florida (27-17-3) plays eight more sets of back-to-backs over the course of the regular season — including every game of this upcoming four-game road trip that starts Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m., Scripps) and continues Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings (10 p.m., TNT), Saturday against the San Jose Sharks (10 p.m. Scripps) and Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights (8 p.m., Scripps). That means each goaltenders will get two starts on the trip.
“That gives Sergei rest and is the right number of games for Spencer,” Maurice said of the schedule. “There will be important games and get both guys going.”
Knight has started 16 games this season and has posted a respectable 2.45 goals against average and .905 save percentage on the season with a pair of shutouts. The 23-year-old has been particularly impressive as of late, posting a .937 save percentage (nine goals allowed on 142 shots against) and 1.63 goals against average over his past six games (five starts) dating back to Dec. 22.
In that span, Knight’s save percentage and goals against average are both fifth in the NHL while his 4.59 goals saved above average is ninth in the league. He is coming off a 34-save shutout on Saturday against Anaheim.
“With Spencer playing the way he is,” Maurice said, “you get the one [goal], and you feel like that might be it.’’
Bobrovsky, meanwhile, has a 2.86 goals against average and .896 save percentage in 31 starts this season although the numbers had been trended upward before a recent slide. Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, had a 13-game stretch from Nov. 27 to Jan. 8 in which he posted a .923 save percentage, went 9-4 overall and gave up three goals or fewer 11 times.
Since then, he has given up four goals in three consecutive outings.
“You need both guys,” Maurice said, “and it gives us the best chance to win in the future to have two goaltenders, in some ways, in their prime in terms of either one freshness and the other experience.”
Latest on Aaron Ekblad
Top-pair defenseman Aaron Ekblad once again skate apart from the main group at practice on Monday as he recovers from an upper-body injury sustained Jan. 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He hasn’t played in the past five games and has sat out six of the past seven overall since sustaining the injury.
Maurice said Ekblad “was better” on Monday and the team is still aiming for him to return on this four-game trip. Exactly when is to be determined at this point.
“He comes in when he comes in,”Maurice said.
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