Sergei Bobrovsky has turned things around quickly before. Look no further than the first game of his now-legendary first-round performance against the top-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.
In the first period, the goaltender coughed up three goals and the Columbus Blue Jackets, massive underdogs, were on the verge of an understandable blowout loss. The Blue Jackets, though, started chipping away and rallied to win after Bobrovsky shut out the Lightning for the final two periods. A few days later, Columbus capped one of the most shocking playoff results ever, sweeping Tampa Bay out of the first round.
Bobrovsky, long considered a postseason underachiever, was suddenly a hero.
“After last year,” the goaltender said, “I know a little bit more about myself, about my potential.”
The postseason run, paired with a two Vezina Trophies from earlier in his career in Ohio, cemented Bobrovsky as one of the NHL’s true superstar goaltenders and made him one of the most coveted free agents on the market just a few months later. The Florida Panthers, who have longed for a true superstar goaltender, gave him a seven-year, $70-million contract, banking on him to stabilize a shaky defense. He was, general manager Dale Tallon hoped, one of the missing pieces the Panthers needed to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2016.
The venue and format are certainly different because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this is still exactly why Florida gave Bobrovsky his money. The playoffs are here, and it’s now the time of year when goaltending is most important.
On Saturday, the Panthers begin a rare best-of-5 series against the New York Islanders in the qualifying round of the NHL’s expanded postseason in Toronto. Each game is more important than even in a normal playoff series, which means Bobrovsky will be counted on even more to be a consistent presence in net.
“We know the importance of goaltending and we’re going to rely on him,” coach Joel Quenneville said, “and we’re expecting him to do his thing.”
Bobrovsky didn’t offer Florida much consistency in the regular season. His .900 save percentage ranked 46th among 54 qualifying goalies. His 3.23 goals-against average ranked 51st. The Panthers were typically better off when rookie goaltender Chris Driedger was in net.
There has never been a question about who would start Saturday at Scotiabank Arena, though. Quenneville praised Bobrovsky throughout Florida’s postseason training camp earlier this month in Coral Springs and continued to laud his play even after Bobrovsky gave up five goals to the Lightning in an exhibition game Wednesday.
The results Wednesday, when Bobrovsky and the Panthers saw their first real game action in more than three months, were troubling. The goalie’s process, Quenneville said, was not.
Bobrovsky played the entirety of Florida’s 5-0 exhibition loss to Tampa Bay, allowing all five goals. The majority of those goals, however, were tough to pin on the goalie, especially playing his first game since February.
In the first period, he gave up two goals — one after a giveaway in the defensive zone and one after a blown assignment led to a breakaway. In the second, he gave up two more quickly — one on a Lightning power play. By the third period, Bobrovsky felt comfortable and gave up just one goal after another giveaway in the defensive zone.
“Tampa (on Wednesday) was not an easy game for all of us, including me,” Bobrovsky said. “It was five goals. It’s a lot, but I think the good thing is it was an exhibition game and I think everybody realizes we have to elevate to another level — maybe two levels. … After they scored four goals, I felt a little bit better and better at each moment, and started to read the game better. Again, it’s good that it’s an exhibition game and I have to build up a lot more from this.”
Still, Bobrovsky was supposed to be good enough to make up for some of the defensive issues in front of him.
In the regular season, he didn’t. It still wouldn’t surprise anyone in the organization if he started now.
“I thought he was a lot more composed. It’s been a long time since he’s been in the net. I thought he got better as the game went on, looked bigger in the net, as well. I thought he’s had a really good camp to date,” Quenneville said. “It’s the situation with goaltending: You’ve got to do your thing, got to move on to the shot and challenge, and he’s a battler and I think you have to like his approach over this stretch of getting back to playing.”
———
©2020 Miami Herald
Visit Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.