Bobrovsky continues to shine

SUNRISE, Fla. – Sergei Bobrovsky turned the puck over on the first shift and recovered. He lost his stick for 30 seconds at one point and still made saves. Connor McDavid had six shots on goal, but none of them went in.

Bobrovsky put on a masterclass against McDavid and every other player who dared to test him and his teammates pounced as soon as they were given the chance. As a result, the Florida Panthers are off to the Stanley Cup Final.

With the goaltender everyone simply calls “Bob” unbeatable in stopping all 32 shots he faced from every angle and in every situation in one of the most memorable goaltending performances in the playoffs playoffs in recent history and thanks to goals from Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues, the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Saturday night in the first game of the best-of-seven NHL championship series.

“It’s fun to go against these guys, these elite guys and it’s a fun atmosphere,” Bobrovsky said. “I’m just alive for this opportunity and I’m enjoying every second of it.”

Chants of “Bobby! Bobby!” were repeated over and over again as Bobrovsky turned away several breakaways, stopped McDavid when the three-time reigning MVP went into turbo mode and flew all around and out of the crease to make the Florida net an impenetrable fortress.

Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner for his excellent regular-season play, recorded his second shutout of this streak and third in the playoffs during his 14-year career. Thanks to him, the Panthers lead in the Cup final for the first time in franchise history and are now three wins away from lifting hockey’s sacred trophy for the first time.

The fact that they were outshot 32-18 didn’t even matter. Returning to the Finals for a second straight season and healthier and more prepared for the moment than in the five-game loss to Vegas a year ago, Florida showed that experience on this stage matters, handling the pressure and tense moments like most of his players. I’ve been here before.

“We kind of know what we’re going to have to do this year,” Verhaeghe said. “We know how hard it is, the ups and downs of the playoffs and the difficulty that comes with it. I think that makes us more equipped this year.”

Verhaeghe and Rodrigues’ goals came on the first five shots on goal against Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner, who was left out due to a slow backcheck and a lost rush to the puck. Skinner, who has been up and down this postseason and whose play seemed to be the biggest question of the series, was hardly to blame for either.

“A lot to like,” McDavid said. “We didn’t give up too much, (but) what we gave up was dangerous.”

Edmonton controlled much of the game at 5-on-5, extended its penalty kill streak to 30 and its power play did just about everything it needed to do except score. Despite all that, the Oilers find themselves in the first Finals appearance of the core group led by McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

“We know we’re going to have to do even better,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There are things we’re going to have to look at and try to increase those chances.”

This is a series featuring the greatest distance between teams competing for the Cup, eclipsing the previous record set in 2011 by Boston and Vancouver. The trophy was presented on the ice before puck drop, the same way the league did by shining a spotlight on it in the empty stands in Edmonton four years ago when the playoffs were underway in pandemic bubbles.

“I wasn’t really expecting that,” Rodrigues said of a Cup premiere in the NHL on ice before the final for the first time since the 1960s. “It was a little bit of thrills and pretty cool moment. It was a pretty nice touch, I’m not going to lie.”

It was in stark contrast to that more recent eerily quiet scene of 2020, with a sellout crowd of 19,543 screaming fans, packing in for a fifth straight final featuring a team from Florida. While 20 playoff games have been played in Canada over the past 20 seasons, this was the 22nd in the Sunshine State during that span.

Another is scheduled for Tuesday when these teams return for Game 2.

“It’s a long streak,” Bobrovsky said. “We’re going to reset, refocus and prepare for the next fight.”