Led by Bobrovsky, Panthers handle Hurricanes in Game 1 of Eastern Conference final
Paul Maurice has told the story multiple times about a portion of Sergei Bobrovsky’s day-of-game routine that he still marvels about to this day.
It’s just after morning skate on a day that Bobrovsky is set to start and there’s the goaltender ... going through a round of Olympic weight lifting.
“I just froze,” Maurice said Tuesday morning in the latest retelling of the tale. “Like, I didn’t tell him he was playing. I just assumed that he knew he was playing. The goalie coach knew [he was starting]. We clearly didn’t tell the man he’s playing that night.”
It turned out Bobrovsky knew he was starting, and the weight lifting was done on purpose.
“He said it’s his routine,” Maurice continued. “So I stay as far away from that — clearly — as I can. Bob’s routine is built over his entire career; it modifies and changes.”
What doesn’t modify or change — or at least hasn’t over the past few years — is Bobrovsky’s ability to rise to the occasion when the games matter the most.
The Panthers take an early lead, and Sergei Bobrovsky takes care of the rest.
It’s a formula they have used to much success in the Stanley Cup playoffs over the past three years.
And it worked once again on Tuesday as the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final at Raleigh’s Lenovo Center.
Bobrovsky stopped 31 of 33 shots he faced in the win, one in which Florida took an early 2-0 lead and never looked back.
“It was a complete game,” Bobrovsky said. “It was a good fight, and we’re happy with the win.”
Bobrovsky has been on a stellar run as of late. He has now has a .952 save percentage over the past five games dating back to Game 4 of the Panthers’ second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bobrovsky has given up just six goals on 125 shots against in that span.
The only goals Bobrovsky allowed on Tuesday came when Sebastian Aho redirected a Seth Jarvis shot into the net with 16 seconds left in the first period and a Jackson Blake power-play goal with 3:41 left to play when the game was already out of reach.
“He’s always locked in,” forward A.J. Greer said. “He’s always got the same routine and the same preparation. To be honest, he’s unbelievable. To be able to do what he’s doing, with the pressure and all, to make some big saves when we’re not necessarily on our best game at certain shifts, that’s a huge part of why we win games. I can’t talk enough about Bob. He’s just such a pro, such a great person and and just a competitor.”
As for that weight lifting routine? Bobrovsky said he can’t remember exactly when he started doing it but he tries “to do my best to prepare myself for the games, to give the team chance to win.”
“That’s pretty much it,” Bobrovsky said. “It’s not about me. It’s just give the guys the best chance.”
He did that on Tuesday, stopping the first nine shots he faced — including an Aho breakaway and a Jarvis slot shot from up close in a span of nine seconds — to allow Florida to build an early lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Carter Verhaeghe opened scoring 8:30 into regulation on the power play when he took a short pass from Aleksander Barkov, drove to the net and flicked a backhanded shot to beat Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen up high.
About four minutes later, defenseman Aaron Ekblad beat Andersen with a blast from the left circle after Evan Rodrigues forced a turnover.
And when Carolina did score in the final seconds of the first period, the Panthers regained the momentum and the two-goal lead on a Greer goal 3:33 into the second period when he scored on a pass from Niko Mikkola.
Sam Bennett and Eetu Luostarinen added goals in the third period, with Bennett’s coming on the power play, to round out scoring.
A dozen players logged at least one point, with Verhaeghe (one goal, one assist), Rodrigues (two assists) and Tomas Nosek (two assists) having multi-point nights.
Tuesday marked the first time this postseason Andersen allowed more than three goals.
Florida has outscored opponents 38-18 on the road so far this postseason.
“We wanted to be ready for this game,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “We know how hard they play here in this building, so we wanted to be ready for this game. We got rewarded there early on. It was good start by us and I think overall it was a good game.”
Game 2 is at 8 p.m. Thursday.
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 10:52 PM.
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