George Richards, FHN Publisher
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sergei Bobrovsky certainly seems to be settling into a groove with the Panthers lately.
Tuesday night was one of Bobrovsky’s best games of the season as he made 38 saves in the Panthers 4-2 win over the host Columbus Blue Jackets.
For the Panthers, having a strong 1-2 punch in goal with Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger is not a luxury but it has been a necessity.
When Bobrovsky was struggling earlier this season, it was Driedger who picked up his team and helped carry it.
Right now, that job belongs to Bobrovsky.
“I feel great,” said Bobrovsky, who is now 9-2-2 with a 2.94 GAA and a .905 save percentage.
“The last five, six games I have felt unreal. I feel focused, I feel strong and I feel confident. It is fun to be part of this team, they play great hockey. … It’s definitely fun to be part of it.”
Whether it is Bobrovsky in net or it is Driedger, at least lately, the Panthers are going to be just fine.
Both Bobrovsky and Driedger are playing at a high level these days, giving the Panthers a true strength at perhaps the most important position in the game.
The Panthers want to be strong from the goalie out and, well, they certainly are off to a good start with these two guys.
On Tuesday night, Bobrovsky was back in net for the Panthers against his former team and he was strong from start to finish.
The first goal he gave up was off a beautiful drop pass from Eric Robinson to a hard-charging Michael Del Zotto.
In the third period, Columbus got its second goal when Oliver Bjorkstrand knocked in a shot from Zach Werenski that was right in front of Bobrovsky’s skate.
Hard to stop either of those.
It was Bobrovsky’s second win this season against Columbus in as many starts after he went 1-1-1 against them last year.
Things haven’t always been smooth sailing for Bobrovsky since he left the Blue Jackets and signed on with the Panthers in 2019.
Right now, however, the ship is sailing straight.
“From the begining of the season, I have felt better and better,” Bobrovsky said last week.
“My timing is better, my feeling is better … to get into shape, you need to see the puck, you need to be in there and find a groove and build on it. I feel better and better each game. It is great to play. I love it.”
When the Panthers line up Thursday night for Game 2 of this series in Columbus, expect Bobrovsky to be back in net. He definitely earned it.
“It’s definitely great to be back playing here,” Bobrovsky said of Columbus.
“Seven years, that’s a lot of time I spent here. A piece of my heart is still here so it is great. This is a great win. You just … stay in the moment and stay focused. I was fortunate to get the W and we just need to keep going.”
Coming into this Columbus series, there were plenty of jokes made at Bobrovsky’s expense either on sports talk radio or amongst press box wags.
‘Backup Bob’ was tossed around a few times, a reference to Driedger — who makes less than 10 percent of Bobrovsky’s annual salary — taking over earlier this season.
But just because it is a catchy turn of phrase doesn’t always make it a truthful one at least not right now.
Sure, Driedger may have taken some starts from Bobrovsky as Joel Quenneville rolled with the hot hand.
But based on what he has done lately, the starter’s net is back in the hands of Bobrovsky.
His last couple of starts have shown he has turned his early struggles around.
Since giving up six goals in Florida’s most lopsided loss of the season on Feb. 13, Driedger took over and started the next three games.
Upon getting back in, Bobrovsky gave up two goals Feb. 20 in a 2-1 loss to the Red Wings. Driedger got the next two games.
Bobrovsky has now started five of Florida’s past seven games, going 4-0-1 and giving up an average of 2.6 goals in those games.
That average is skewed a little by the four allowed in a wild 5-4 win at Nashville last Thursday night.
“I thought I played a solid game, had zero chance on those goals,” he said after that game. “I felt great, it was a great team win.”
Having two strong goalies as Florida does is needed in this 56-game season.
Florida is nearing the halfway mark of the season and its two goalies are among the league leaders in wins with Bobrovsky’s goals-against average going down and save percentage going up.
Bobrovsky’s numbers, certainly, are not where they were when he was winning the Vezina Trophy with the Blue Jackets.
But they are better than last year (not saying much) and are improving by the start.
The Panthers need both of their goalies to be good the rest of the way and they both need this healthy competition between them.
“Bob was great,’’ Joel Quenneville said. “I like the way he is progressing over these past five games. And that was his best.”