Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers Scored A Lot. Bobrovsky Made Sure Lightning Did Not
While he got as much goal support as he could ask for, Sergei Bobrovsky did his part in a 9-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
On Saturday night, Bobrovsky stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced, including 16 in the second period, to help Florida flip a three-goal cushion into a five-goal lead through 40 minutes.
He made 26 straight saves after allowing a goal on the game’s first shot 24 seconds in.
Even with five players recording multiple points, Bobrovsky’s contributions were just as significant.
“They started out hot; on the first shift, they scored a goal, but we bounced back quick,” Sasha Barkov said.
“We scored a couple of goals and got a good lead there, and Bob was amazing again. It was a great team win.”
“Bob was amazing again” has been said a lot recently.
In the past 15 games, Bobrovsky is 13-1-1 with a .921 save percentage and a 2.24 goals-against average.
Only Thatcher Demko has more wins, while only five other goalies with at least 10 starts have a better save percentage.
He has also won his last eight road games — a franchise record — and has contributed to Florida’s franchise-record 11-straight wins away from home.
Not too shabby.
Having a goalie on a roll like that has been good for coach Paul Maurice, who admittedly does not micromanage his goaltending.
“I don’t know too much about it, so it works pretty well for me,” he said.
“Robb Tallas works hard with those guys and puts effort into getting them what they need. He’s done a really good job spelling them off and he has really helped Anthony Stolarz in his overall game. So goaltending has been very good.”
Between Bobrovsky and Stolarz, the Panthers have allowed two or fewer goals in six consecutive games.
But his mindset remains the same even on a stretch like this — no matter if the score is 9-2 or 2-1.
”I don’t focus on that,” Bobrovsky said. “You focus on one shot and one moment and you keep it going.
“It’s a long season and the fun part is at the end.”
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ON DECK
OTTAWA SENATORS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
- Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
- TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
- Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Last Season: Florida won 2-1
- This Season (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Ottawa: Panthers 5, Senators 0 (Nov.27); April 4. At Florida: Tuesday; April 9
- All-time Regular Season Series: Ottawa leads 57-45-5, 3 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday at Carolina, 7 p.m.