Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has completely changed the narrative around his career over the past couple of seasons. He is on the short list of goalies to have won two Vezina Trophies (a list that is full of mostly Hall of Famers) and has been one of the league’s best regular-season goalies.
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The one big “Yeah, but…” that has always followed him around has been his performance in the playoffs.
From 2010-11 through the 2020-21 season, Bobrovsky’s playoff record was about as bad as it could be. During that stretch, he compiled a 13-23 record and a .899 save percentage, which put him 32nd out of 32 goalies who had appeared in at least 25 playoff games during that stretch. His postseason shortcomings were a big part of the narrative around his career.
That narrative hasn’t gone away over the past couple of seasons — but this time, it serves to highlight how well he has played. Over the past three years, including the first three games of the Panthers’ first-round series against Tampa Bay (where the Panthers have a 3-0 series lead and are going for a sweep on Saturday), Bobrovsky has compiled a 19-12 record and a .914 save percentage that has him among the league’s best during that stretch.
He led the Panthers to a Stanley Cup Final a year ago, and is now outdueling one of the best playoff goalies of the modern era in Andrei Vasilevskiy. If he maintains that level of play and gets the Panthers back to the Stanley Cup Final and then wins it, it will be the finishing touches on a Hall of Fame resume.
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Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders — Game 4
How to watch: 2 p.m. ET on TBS, SN
Hurricanes lead series 3-0
Series odds:Hurricanes -10000, Islanders +1600
- Goaltending was supposed to be the big edge in this series for the New York Islanders. It has not played out that way, as Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin have combined for only a .894 save percentage. Carolina’s Frederik Andersen is at .922 for the series.
- The Islanders have had just five power play opportunities in the three games, a reflection of how much Carolina has dominated puck possession. Carolina has controlled 62 percent of the total shot attempts in the series. It’s hard to draw penalties when you don’t have the puck.
- Carolina has a chance to complete its first best-of-seven sweep since the 2018-19 playoffs. That sweep came against the New York Islanders.
- Only four teams in NHL history have come back from a 3-0 series deficit to win the series. The New York Islanders were one of those teams during the 1975 playoffs. Two of those 3-0 comebacks in the NHL have happened within the salary cap era (since 2005-06).
- Carolina has already received at least one goal from 10 different players in the first three games of the series, with only Sebastian Aho (two) scoring more than one goal. Balance and depth have been the name of the game for them with any line capable of scoring.
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning — Game 4
How to watch: 5 p.m. ET on TBS, SNE, SNW, SNP
Panthers lead series 3-0
Series odds:Panthers -10000, Lightning +1600
- Tampa Bay has not had an answer for the Matthew Tkachuk-Anton Lundell-Carter Verhaeghe line the Panthers have been using. In 18 minutes of 5-on-5 play that trio has controlled more than 84 percent of the expected goals (via Natural Stat Trick) and has a 2-0 goals edge in the series.
- Steven Stamkos has three goals for the Lightning, while his teammates have combined for just four goals in the series.
- The Lightning had the league’s best power play during the regular season at 28.6 percent, but the Panthers have done a fantastic job of slowing it down in this series. Entering Game 4, the Lightning have converted on just two of their 12 power-play opportunities.
- Along with the special teams edge, Florida has also largely carried the 5-on-5 play. Entering play on Saturday, the Panthers had at least a 56 percent share of the 5-on-5 scoring chances in each of the three games while also outscoring the Lightning by a 7-5 margin.
- Since Jon Cooper took over as the Lightning head coach during the 2012-13 season their 86 playoff wins are 24 more than the next closest team during that stretch. They have lost in the first round just three times during that stretch. But two of those first-round exits resulted in sweeps. They are trying to avoid a third sweep on Saturday.
Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs — Game 4
How to watch: 8 p.m. ET on TBS, SN, CBC
Bruins lead series 2-1
Series odds:Bruins -275, Maple Leafs +225
- Special teams have been the biggest difference heading into Game 4, with Boston’s power play converting on five of its 10 opportunities in the three games. Toronto is just 1-for-11 in the series.
- The power play is where Toronto is feeling the absence of star forward William Nylander. Nylander’s 11 power-play goals during the regular season were second on the team (Auston Matthews had 18 power-play goals), while his 35 power-play points led the team and were 14th in the entire NHL. He has been sidelined for the first three games, reportedly due to migraine issues.
- The other big series changer — goaltending. Jeremy Swayman has a .955 save percentage in his two starts (with a 2-0 record), while Toronto’s Ilya Samsonov is at just .895 and has given up some very questionable goals.
- Even more concerning than the fact Mitch Marner has not scored a goal in the series is that he has just four shots on goal in the three games, including only two during 5-on-5 play.
- Not only have Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk been a huge part of the Bruins offense in terms of actually scoring the goals, one (or both) of them have been on the ice for eight of the 11 Bruins goals in the first three games of the series.
Dallas Stars at Vegas Golden Knights — Game 3
How to watch: 10:30 p.m. ET on TBS, SN
Knights lead series 2-0
Series odds:Golden Knights -450, Stars +350
- Dallas’ reward for getting the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference was to play the defending Stanley Cup champions who were also getting Mark Stone and Tomas Hertl back healthy for the playoffs. A potential nightmare matchup.
- That’s especially true when you consider Vegas won all three games during the regular season and is now 5-0 against the Stars this season, including the playoffs.
- The Stars were one of the highest-scoring teams in the league during the regular season and boast one of the league’s deepest collections of forward talent. They have been completely unable to solve the Golden Knights, however, with just eight total goals in the five meetings (regular season and playoffs).
- Dallas is carrying a lot of the 5-on-5 play in the series, at least as it relates to scoring chances and expected goals, but Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson (.920 save percentage) has outplayed Stars goalie Jake Oettinger (.850 save percentage).
- Teams that take a 2-0 series lead tend to win the series around 85 percent of the time in the NHL. Vegas not only took a 2-0 series lead, it did so while winning both games on the road. The Golden Knights have never lost a playoff series (4-0) when taking a 2-0 series lead.
(Photo of Sergei Bobrovsky: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
