The Florida Panthers are in the conference final for the first time in 27 years, and a large part of that has been the play of Sergei Bobrovsky.
Ever since he came into the series against the Boston Bruins to start Game 4, he’s been a saving grace for the Panthers, backing them to a comeback series win against the Bruins, and then looking tough to beat against the Toronto Maple Leafs’ superstars.
He’s rocking a solid .918 save percentage in the postseason, but more impressive is his 8.62 goals saved above expected, which leads all remaining goaltenders by more than three goals.
Florida Panthers writer George Richards joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli on "Daily Faceoff Live" to talk about how important Bobrovsky has been to this Panthers team on their surprising run, and whether or not this will continue.
George Richards: We’re going to find that out! This is the first time he’s ever been in a conference final as a starting goaltender. The furthest he ever got was the year that Columbus surprisingly swept Tampa Bay back in 2019, so this is as far as he’s ever come, so we’re going to find out.
Florida’s obviously playing some pretty good defense in front of him, clearing out some pucks, something that they haven’t always done, so he’s getting a little more defensive support than what he’s been used to in the past.
And he seems just like a guy that’s just in the moment. We haven’t really seen this side of Sergei Bobrovsky, it just feels a little different with him. He’s given all the praise to his teammates and talked about what a privilege it is just to be here and all that stuff, and then he goes out and he makes 45 saves, so he’s been terrific for them.
I don’t know what we can say. His 10 goals saved above expected, he’s just been great, especially in the Toronto series, and he came up clutch for Florida in the Boston series winning Game 5 with 44 saves in an elimination game for the Panthers. So, if not for Bob, the Panthers wouldn’t be here.
You can watch the full episode here…
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