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Sergei Bobrovsky shares honest opinion on Panthers after wasted 30-save effort

Originally posted on NHL on ClutchPoints
By Michael Whitaker | Last updated Oct 18, 2024 2:17 AM ET

The Vancouver Canucks secured their first victory of the season on Thursday night, defeating the Florida Panthers in overtime. J.T. Miller scored the game-winning goal just 2:09 into the extra period, clinching the extra point for the visiting Canucks.

For the Panthers, it was their third game in the last four days and they also had to hit the ice without cornerstone players Aleksander Barkov (lower-body injury) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

The Panthers lost despite a 30-save performance between the pipes from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who was sure to give a shout-out for how his teammates played in front of him, via X.

“It was a good game,” he said. “I thought the guys did a great job to compete and work hard. It’s an important and big point for us. We move on.”

In addition to Miller’s overtime winner, the Canucks got goals from Teddy Blueger and captain Quinn Hughes, while the Panthers countered with tallies from Jesper Boqvist and Anton Lundell.

The Panthers will host the Vegas Golden Knights at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday night in a rematch of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.

Sergei Bobrovsky is fresh off leading the Panthers to the Stanley Cup

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) defends his net against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Bobrovsky followed in the footsteps of his Russian countrymen Nikolai Khabibulin and Andrei Vasilevskiy, leading his club to the Stanley Cup; it was also the first title in franchise history.

Once regarded as having one of the biggest albatross contracts in the NHL, Bobrovsky quickly flipped the script on his detractors during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs when he supplanted Alex Lyon in net; he had a strong regular season in 2023-24, going 36-17-4 with a 2.37 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage, and seven shutouts.

He’s also just two victories away from reaching 400 in his career; when he accomplishes the feat, he will become just the 14th goaltender in NHL history to do so.

This article first appeared on NHL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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