Steve Gorten, Florida Hockey Now Writer
The Panthers are depositing $10 million into the bank account of Sergei Bobrovsky this season, and they’re slated to do the same for five more seasons.
That’s distressing, considering he allowed 10 goals in two playoff starts this past week and might be a benchwarmer wearing his favorite ski cap for Monday night’s do-or-die Game 5.
“We’ll talk about it,” Joel Quenneville said of who’ll start after Saturday afternoon’s 6-2 loss at Amalie Arena, which gave the Lightning a 3-1 lead in this first-round series.
“We’ll reconvene and look at the options.”
Perhaps Quenneville will turn again to Chris Driedger, like he did for Games 2 and 3 after Bobrovsky gave up five in the opening game.
Maybe Spencer Knight will get a chance. Quenneville may decide to stick with Bobrovsky.
Quenneville did the latter for Saturday’s crucial Game 4 after Bobrovsky stopped all nine shots he faced in relief in Tuesday’s Game 3 overtime win.
It wasn’t the wrong move. But it backfired.
The Panthers badly needed shades of “Big Game Bob,” the guy who backstopped the Blue Jackets to a stunning first-round sweep of the Lightning two years ago.
Instead, they got the Bob plagued by postseason struggles for most of his career, the version that former Jackets coach John Tortorella suggested should see a sports psychologist for that reason.
Bobrovsky made it clear he wasn’t fond of said suggestion.
Bobrovsky surrendered three goals on the first six shots he faced on Saturday, and five on 14 shots, prompting Quenneville to replace him with Driedger after Alex Killorn netted his second goal 7:15 into the second period.
“Just trying to do something different,” Quenneville explained. “That was definitely the thought process on that. Slow their momentum down maybe and get some excitement.”
To be fair, the Lightning’s first goal, potted by Anthony Cirelli, came on a clean breakaway due to a defensive mistake and a bad Florida change when Sasha Barkov returned to the bench and no one took his place.
The second and third goals were scored off deflections. Really nice, skilled deflections.
And on the fourth, a power-play tap in by Killorn on a beautiful pass from Nikita Kucherov, “we’re not blaming anybody on that one there,” Quenneville said.
In Game 1, the Lightning capitalized on three power plays in a wide-open, high-scoring affair.
So blame Bobrovsky if you want to. Plenty have and more will.
The truth remains: The Panthers aren’t paying Bobrovsky $10 million a season to make all the saves he should make.
They’re paying him to also make some saves he shouldn’t, the type he had exactly one of Saturday — robbing Brayden Point on the doorstep four minutes into the second period.
On the other end in Game 4, fellow Russian and Vezina Trophy winner, Andrei Vasilevskiy, came up with one stellar save after another, assuring the Panthers trailed by two goals heading into intermission even though they dominated in offensive chances during a 15-shot first period.
Vasilevskiy, who finished with 39 saves, was the reason the Panthers had no chance of making a comeback, despite Driedger stopping 11 of the 12 shots he faced.
“Obviously he’s a good goalie and he played well, but we can do a better job in front of him putting rebounds in,” Barkov said. “We know how to score on him. We just have to find a way.”
Barkov’s not wrong.
The Panthers are responsible for five of the 10 times this season that Vasilevskiy has surrendered four or more goals, including Games 1 and 3 of this series. They’ve been able to tag him like no other team.
When he was sharp Saturday, though, the Panthers didn’t have a goalie to match him.
For as good as Bobrovsky has been throughout his career — he’s the only active two-time Vezina winner in the NHL although Vasilevskiy may join him in that club soon — his inability to excel in the playoffs (aside from the 2018-19 season) have led some to question his value.
Last season’s performance in the qualifying round — Bobrovsky was 1-3 with a 3.07 goals-against average and .901 save percentage by the Islanders — makes it tough for some Panthers fans to overlook his struggles in this series.
As far as they’re concerned, “Big Game Bob” has become “Big Mistake Bob,” as in the Panthers made a big mistake giving him a seven-year, $70 million contract on the heels of his success against the Lightning two years ago.
No other team is going to take on that contract. As far as anyone can tell.
And the Panthers almost certainly won’t be able to afford to keep Driedger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
So, they could very well find themselves relying on Bobrovsky next postseason.
Right now, their only concern is finding a way Monday to extend this season.
And their best option might no longer be the guy they’ve been banking on.
Steve Gorten, columnist for Florida Hockey Now, has covered the Florida Panthers for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Columbus Blue Jackets for the Columbus Dispatch.