Sergei Bobrovsky Leads Panthers to 7-1 Blowout Over Lightning in Return From Five-Game Absence
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Florida Panthers were treated to encouraging injury news on Monday as starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky returned to action following a brief hiatus.
Bobrovsky, sidelined since Jan. 19th due to a lower-body injury, made his highly-anticipated return against the Tampa Bay Lightning and showed very little rust while facing a talented divisional opponent. In doing so, the 34-year-old enjoyed one of his top performances of the season.
The Lightning’s skaters came out strong in the opening frame, out chancing the Panthers 8-3 in high-danger areas, but the two-time Vezina Trophy winner didn’t allow any pucks by him. And thanks to Carter Verhaeghe’s 27th goal of 2022-23, Florida led 1-0 after 20 minutes.
Neither team refused to back down in the second period, as they traded quality scoring chances at both ends of the rink, with Bobrovsky outdueling his counterpart Andrei Vasilevskiy. As a result, the Panthers added to their edge, carrying a 4-1 advantage into the final frame.
Knowing the quality of their opponent, Florida’s skaters hammered down on the throttle by notching a trio of goals in the third period, courtesy of Eric Staal, Matthew Tkachuk and Verhaeghe, en route to a 7-1 blowout victory.
Bobrovsky was a difference maker in the winning effort, stopping 32 of 33 shots against while making 14 high-danger saves. The 6-foot-2 netminder made several key stops against the Bolts and saved 2.66 goals above expected, according to MoneyPuck.
The only blemish on the night was Bobrovsky failing to prevent Nikita Kucherov’s 20th marker of the season, which at the time, trimmed Florida’s lead to 2-1 at the 3:02 mark of the second period. That wasn’t entirely his fault, though.
Just as Kucherov released his shot attempt, Aaron Ekblad and Nick Perbix crossed in front of the veteran goaltender’s sight line, blocking his vision as the puck approached him. And before he knew it, the Lightning had cut their deficit in half.
In the end, however, Bobrovsky had the last laugh as he slammed the door shut the rest of the way, earning his 13th victory of 2022-23. He improved to 13-13-2 with a 3.17 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage across 31 contests.
This season hasn’t gone as expected for the two-time All-Star, who featured a sub-.900 save percentage heading into Monday’s battle of Florida. But as he displayed a night ago, he can still be a difference-maker versus the league’s brightest stars.
Now that Bobrovsky is healthy again, the next step will be to perform more consistently down the stretch – something that’s eluded him thus far.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a great feeling. It’s a great two points for us and it’s huge,” Bobrovsky said to reporters post-game. “I thought [our] guys did a great job from start to finish, and we beat a really good team too. It’s big for us – we have to build from it.”
“As a goalie, your mind has to be free because you can control your actions,” Bobrovsky continued. “Kind of like how you receive the puck and your mind has to be free and not hold anything [back].”
“So, it was a good decision, definitely, and I feel ready to go and I felt good.”
Monday night’s victory over Tampa Bay was a major accomplishment for Florida as it elevated the franchise to just one point shy of the final wild-card seed – currently held by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The problem, however, is that two other teams (Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders) are ahead of the Panthers for that final postseason spot.
But with the club’s 2023 first-round pick already dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, they remain motivated to finish as high up the standings as possible to avoid surrendering a favourable draft selection.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85