George Richards, FHN Publisher
If Sergei Bobrovsky had something to prove going into his first postseason with the Florida Panthers against the Islanders, well, so far, so good.
The Panthers signed Bobrovsky to the biggest free agent contract in franchise history last July, a seven-year, $70 million deal which some had hoped would be the answer to all of the team’s problems.
He was not.
Even as these games against the New York Islanders have shown, Bob cannot — some nights, sure — do it alone.
But when he is on, as he has been in this series against the Islanders, Bobrovsky gives his team a chance.
“I like the way he moves, like his approach and he has been real positive,” coach Joel Quenneville said Thursday afternoon, a day before his Panthers face the Islanders in Game 4 of their best-of-five series.
“He had the right attitude from the start of training camp. Obviously you know the importance of goaltending. You can’t get any more magnified than in that spot. It’s huge. He had a great response yesterday when we were in that spot. He did what he had to do to give us a chance and he got us a win.
“He has been in some situations where he has played in a lot of big moments like that and I think that will help us moving forward.”
Added Noel Acciari: “He helps us tremendously. Knowing when we make a mistake, he’s there to back us up. He has played unbelievable these three games and we want to play good in front of him to, you know, show him how much we appreciate it. We had a good step in the right direction yesterday.”
Wednesday is a good example of what a goalie like Bobrovsky being on his game means to a team.
The Panthers took a 3-1 lead on the Islanders early in the third period and Bobrovsky, from that point, carried it the rest of the way.
The Islanders took 10 shots on goal in the third period (their largest output of the game) with only one getting through — and that’s because it hit the skate of Aaron Ekblad and slipped through.
Florida’s work is far from finished (Friday’s Game 4 is, once again, an elimination game for the Panthers being down 2-1 in the series), but they feel pretty good about things going forward with Bobrovsky focused and manning that net.
“It was great for our team to have guys step up and win that one,” Bobrovsky said after Wednesday’s victory. “It was a big game for us mentally and I think every guy in the locker room elevated his game. There were huge block shots, they raised it up a level.
“Brian Boyle, our veteran, lead the way. Everyone stepped up from the D to the forwards. It is fun to be part of this environment. We played smart, played the whole 60 minutes. We were composed.”
HUBERDEAU UPDATE
Quenneville said Jonathan Huberdeau, who missed the final third of the final period Wednesday, had “good progress today” and should be in the lineup Friday.
“We’re looking for him to be ready to go,” Quenneville said.
Huberdeau played over 20 minutes on Wednesday despite going out with five minutes remaining in the game.
PLAY ME WHEREVER
Quenneville has been liberal with mixing things up throughout the first three games as evidenced by where Noel Acciari has played.
Acciari spent training camp centering the fourth line but by Game 1, he was playing up on the second line with Mike Hoffman and Erik Haula.
In Game 2, Acciari was back on the fourth line but on Wednesday, he moved all the way up to the top where he was paired with Sasha Barkov and Huberdeau.
Earlier this season, Quenneville had the brainstorm to move Acciari from a bottom-six role to the top and played him with Vincent Trocheck.
We all know what happened next.
Acciari recorded his first NHL hat trick on Dec. 16 against the Senators — then followed that up with another trifecta the next game out against Dallas.
Acciari’s career high for goals had been 10, a total he blew past this season with 20 even without the final 13 games.
“You know, I will play wherever I need to play,” said Acciari, who played in the Stanley Cup Finals with the Bruins last year with a broken sternum.
“My game is not going to change much. Playing with Barky and Huby, I am going to try and get to the puck first, throw that hit, try and open up some space for those guys to do what they do. Play a hard game, try and open up some space for them.”
WHO PLAYS?
Speaking of lineups, Quenneville was noncommittal (as expected) when it came to who he will play come Friday.
On Wednesday, Quenneville scratched regulars Mike Matheson, Frank Vatrano and Colton Sceviour while bringing in Josh Brown, Lucas Wallmark and Dryden Hunt.
The Panthers are expected to have at least one of those three scratched players back on Wednesday even though Quenneville, at least through the regular season, has been hesitant to change his lineup following a victory.
“We’ll talk about it,” Quenneville said. “We talked yesterday and today and we’ll look at our options. We’ll make our decisions tomorrow.”
HEY, WALLY!
After sitting out the first two games (the Panthers have not divulged any reason why), Wallmark played in his first postseason game Wednesday.
Wallmark, considered a key component of the Panthers’ four-player return in the Trocheck trade, said he was “feeling good” after going in after not playing since the exhibition against Tampa Bay the week prior.
“It was fun going back on the ice,” Wallmark said. “I think we had a good game so it was a great day. … I was just trying to get out there and play with a little energy to the group. All of us had a great game, we played the right way. It was a big step forward in the right direction for us.”