Bobrovsky Saved a Point the Maple Leafs Didn’t Deserve

Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t get the win, but he might have been Toronto’s best player on the ice, and it wasn’t close. Think about how the game went. After a dominant first period, Toronto let Vegas take over. The Golden Knights fired 21 shots at Bobrovsky in the second period alone. The Maple Leafs’ defence gave up chances, took penalties, and generally made life hard. And through all of it, Bobrovsky just kept stopping the puck.

He made three of his best saves of the night early in the second while Vegas was on a power play, including one just as the penalty expired. Later, he robbed Connelly when he was alone in front. When Vegas got another power play in the second, he stopped all four shots. In the third, another Vegas power play, another stretch where he kept the puck out. Without him, this isn’t a 4-3 game. It’s a blowout.

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Bobrovsky has his head screwed on straight. That helps.

That’s what Toronto signed him to do. He’s 38, and there were real questions about whether age had caught up with him after a tough season in Florida. Nights like this are the answer. A goalie who can bail out a team for stretches, then still be there when the game goes to overtime, is worth a lot in a tight division.

It also matters for the room. From everything I’ve heard, Bobrovsky already carries real weight in the locker room. When your goalie plays like that, and your skaters know he just bailed them out, it’s a pretty good way to earn respect and set the tone for the season.

I’m only beginning to get to know Bobrovsky, but I like what he said after the game:

“It was a good hockey game. It’s a big point for us on the road against a good team. We had a good start, then things kind of got away from us a little bit. Still, it’s hockey, it’s the NHL, and it’s a good league. They’re a really good team. So, it’s again, it’s a big point for us, and we just move on with our game and keep building.”

As Bobrovsky noted, a point is a point against a good team.

The shootout is a bit of a lottery, and Toronto lost it. That’s hockey. But the story of this game shouldn’t be that Toronto blew a lead. It should be that Bobrovsky kept them in it for 65 minutes, and that Toronto got a point because of it.

If the defence can tighten up in front of him, this team has a real chance. If it doesn’t, at least they know their goalie won’t be the reason they lose.

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