Colby Guy
While a lot of the Florida Panthers’ success comes from high goal-scoring numbers, including a stretch that saw them score 50 goals in an eight-game stretch, Sergei Bobrovsky has been a crucial part of it as well.
Since the Panthers returned to play on Dec. 29, Bobrovsky boasts a 7-0-1 record with a .929/2.47 in eight starts.
“You can’t forget about Bob,” Anthony Duclair said.
“He’s making key saves in key moments at the beginning of the game on a couple of bounces that could go the other way, so it starts with Bobrovsky in net and we build confidence from there out.”
Bobrovsky had his work cut out for him last weekend when he was asked to make back-to-back starts against the Dallas Stars and his former Columbus Blue Jackets teammates after Spencer Knight was only just activated off of Covid-19 protocols on Friday.
During those two starts, he went 2-0-0 with a .950/1.50, only allowing goals in the third period after the team was up big.
“He’s been great and I was kind of hoping we would shut the door for him in the third period against his former team,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said after Florida’s 9-2 win over the Blue Jackets.
“He’s been outstanding and, a lot of times, these games are hard to stay focused in and he did a great job both nights and made huge saves and he had to in different parts of these two games.”
After a rough start to his Florida tenure, Bobrovsky is finally returning to the elite form he once had.
In 27 starts during the 2021-22 campaign, Bobrovsky has a 19-3-3 with a .921/2.47.
While it is not quite at the heights of his Vezina-winning 2017 campaign, where he went 41-17-5 with a .931/2.06, it is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was in his first two seasons with the Panthers.
In his first two seasons in Florida, Bobrovsky went 42-27-8 with a .902/3.10 over 79 starts.
It hit a low for Bobrovsky during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where he only started two of Florida’s games in their six-game series loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning after going 1-2-0 with a .841/5.33.
Not only was Knight tabbed to start Games 5 and 6, but Chris Driedger was the backup.
Bobrovsky turned a corner to start the 2021-22 campaign, going 6-0-0 with a .944/1.81 during Florida’s eight-game winning streak to start the year.
While his numbers dipped to something a little more human, Florida has still relied on him heavily throughout the season.
As the Panthers’ 26 wins are tied for second in the NHL, only seven of those belong to backup goaltender Spencer Knight.
“I like to play, I feel good, I got a rhythm,” Bobrovsky said. “I like to play, but it has to be smart.
“It’s a good workload and there is rest, so I trust the team and the coaches, so I believe that they do the best for the team and they manage me smart, so I’m happy to be on the ice when the team needs me.”