Sergei Bobrovsky talks Svechnikov hit. Plus context on Panthers’ depth scoring
Things got physical around the Florida Panthers’ net Tuesday, but Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t let it faze him.
On multiple occasions during the first two periods of the Eastern Conference final series opener, Bobrovsky received the brunt of collisions in his crease from the Carolina Hurricanes in Florida’s eventual 5-2 win at Raleigh’s Lenovo Center.
The most notable of them came when Andrei Svechnikov, after Bobrovsky stopped one of his shots, crashed the net, looked at Bobrovsky, skated through the crease and hit Bobrovsky directly in the head with his left hip.
While Bobrovsky took a moment during a stoppage in play to talk with referee Kelly Sutherland, the veteran goaltender downplayed the events postgame.
“It’s the playoffs,” Bobrovsky said. “They try to get under the skin. It’s all right. I just focus on my things and don’t try to think about that.”
Bobrovsky finished the game with 31 saves on 33 shots against for his fifth consecutive stellar outing in net this postseason. Dating back to Game 4 of Florida’s second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Bobrovsky has allowed just six goals on 125 shots against for a .952 save percentage.
“I see it all the time,” winger Carter Verhaeghe said. “Good goal, bad goal, he’s the same. If he’s run, he doesn’t get distracted. In the last series, we gave up some breakaways, and he’s right there to shut the door at critical times. He’s such a brick wall back there. We trust him so much. He’s a Vezina-level goalie, a Stanley Cup-winning goalie. He’s so special.”
Scoring in bunches — and from bunches
The Panthers continue to get production from throughout the lineup.
On Tuesday, Florida scored five goals from five different players — Verhaeghe, Aaron Ekblad, A.J. Greer, Sam Bennett and Eetu Luostarinen.
It’s continuing a trend that has been on display all postseason.
The Panthers are averaging 3.85 goals per game in the playoffs. They have 17 players with at least one goal and 13 with at least two.
But what might be more impressive: They haven’t had a player with a multigoal game since Game 1 of their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning when both Matthew Tkachuk and Nate Schmidt scored twice.
Put another way, in the Panthers’ eight games with at least four goals so far this postseason, there have been seven in which every Panthers goal was scored by a different player.
“Our depth is been incredible all year, and especially in the playoffs,” said center Sam Bennett, who leads the team and is tied for third overall with seven goals this postseason. “Every line is showing up, all our defense, Bobby, but it really has been a full team effort every single night, and it makes it a lot easier when you have every every guy getting up and playing like that. Kudos to really every single guy for stepping up for sure.”
Power-play success
The Florida Panthers struck twice on the power play Tuesday, with Verhaeghe and Bennett’s goals both coming on the man advantage.
That’s key, considering Carolina had allowed just two total power-play goals on 30 total attempts through the first two rounds of the playoffs against the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals.
“That’s important,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “This whole thing is a confidence game, so you can get to the next game feeling good about it.”
Overall, the Panthers have 10 power-play goals this postseason on 42 opportunities.
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