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2019-20 Season Rewind: Sergei Bobrovsky
22 сентября 2020 года. nhl.com. By by Jameson Olive
Sergei Bobrovsky is eager to put this past season behind him.
In his first tour of duty with the Florida Panthers after joining the
organization on a seven-year deal last offseason, the 32-year-old
goaltender went 23-19-6 with a 3.23 goals-against average, .900 save
percentage and one shutout during a tough pandemic-shortened 2019-20
campaign.
However, given that he's been of the NHL's top netminders over the past
decade, new Panthers general manager Bill Zito is confident that
Bobrovsky's struggles are just an anomaly, as the two-time Vezina
Trophy winner owned a career .919 save percentage before this past year.
"Cut the guy a little slack," Zito, who got to know Bobrovsky during
his time as an assistant general manager in Columbus from 2013-19, said
during an interview with Sportsnet earlier this month. "It's a new
environment, different structure, a different team, different system.
If I'm going to bet on anybody to right the ship, to figure out what he
needs to do to improve himself, it's that guy. Whatever it is he can do
on his own, he's doing it. I'm nonplussed. [Bobrovsky] will be fine."
While Bobrovsky's season as a whole didn't fully live up to
expectations, there were stretches in which the Novokuznetsk, Russia
native looked almost infallible. Looking back, no other time was that
more true than when he started three games in four nights heading into
the All-Star break.
Returning to the crease after missing two games with an injury,
Bobrovsky, clearly no worse for wear, stopped a combined 88 of 96 shots
(.917 save percentage) to send the Panthers into a playoff spot with
three straight road wins over Detroit, Minnesota and Chicago from Jan.
18-21.
"It was an important game with points in the bank," Bobrovsky, who went
8-3-0 over 11 starts before the break, said after dismissing the
Blackhawks. "It will help us. We have a good break now to reset,
refocus, re-energize and get ready for the most important part of the
season."
Like the rest of the Panthers, Bobrovsky unfortunately took a step back
coming out of the break, but was trending upward heading into the home
stretch before another injury sidelined him once again. Over his final
six starts of the regular season, he went 3-2-1 with a .921 save
percentage.
Staying sharp throughout the roughly four-month lockdown that followed
the arrival of COVID-19, Bobrovsky said he was feeling great heading
into the NHL's "Return to Play" camp in July.
"I think after four months it is a fresh start," Bobrovsky said during
Florida's two-week training camp. "It's been a long time for everybody.
We actually had the time to rest and we had the time to train on our
own. It's a long time, four months. It is a fresh start and we have to
build all the chemistry and all the feelings and atmosphere inside of
the locker room from the beginning."
During the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, Bobrovsky helped keep the Panthers
in most games. But, alas, the Cats were sent home packing by the New
York Islanders in four games. Finishing the series with a .901 save
percentage, Bobrovsky surrendered just two goals in two of the games.
Now settled into his new surroundings, he appears poised to bounce back in 2020-21.
"It definitely [stinks] to lose and to end the season like that,"
Bobrovsky said after a 5-1 loss to New York in Game 4 of the
best-of-five series. "But we have a great group of guys. Everybody's
working hard and everybody gets good experience from it. We have to
learn and move on."
Bobrovsky continues to get the job done against Detroit.
In two starts against the Red Wings this season, he went 2-0-0 while
turning aside 49 of 50 shots for a .980 save percentage. Not simply
coasting to victory in those games, he excelled while under duress,
stopping 14 of 15 high-danger shots, according to NaturalStatTrick.com
For Bobrovsky, this dominance against Detroit is nothing new. In 22
career games against the Red Wings, he owns an impressive 15-5-1 record
with a 1.96 goals-against average and .935 save percentage and three
shutouts -- tied for his most shutouts against any single opponent.
Over 1,287:28 of ice time against Detroit in his career, he's allowed just 29 even-strength goals.
BEST GAME
Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville enthusiastically described this game as a "goalie win."
With the playoff push starting to really heat up (this was just a few
weeks before the pandemic cut the regular season short), Bobrovsky
played simply out of his mind between the pipes while stopping 37 of 38
shots to help guide the Panthers to a crucial 2-1 victory at Arizona on
Feb. 25.
"I think it's the team that was the first star," Bobrovsky said after
the win. "They made great blocked shots, great backchecks, perfect
timing. They made a hell of a backcheck at the end, the very last
second. It's a great time to play hockey. I thought the guys played
great."
Of the 37 shots that Bobrovsky turned aside against the Coyotes - his
fifth-most in a game this season -- a whopping 13 of them were from
high-danger areas on the ice. Digging even deeper, four of those saves
came off rebound attempts, a credit to his mobility and quick reaction
skills.
In front of Bobrovsky, Florida's skaters helped out by blocking 12 shots and taking no penalties.
"He stood on his head and did a great job for us," Panthers defenseman
Aaron Ekblad said of Bobrovsky's play following the win. "I think we
were able to clear pucks out in front of him and did a good job on
breakouts. It was a full five-man unit in the D-zone tonight. Our
wingers locked down the point and did a good job of really forcing
everything to the outside."
SAVE OF THE YEAR
This was a save so nice that he made it twice.
With Frans Nielsen barreling down the ice on a breakaway, Bobrovsky not
only denies his initial wrist shot, but also quickly gobbles up a
follow-up attempt from Nielsen on the ensuing rebound to keep the
Panthers on top 2-1 in the third period of an eventual 4-1 win in
Detroit on Jan. 18.
Those epic stops were two of eight high-danger saves Bobrovsky made throughout the contest.
"If it goes to 2-2, it's a completely different game," Panthers
defenseman Mark Pysyk said after the game when asked about Bobrovsky's
back-to-back saves against Nielsen. "He makes the first one, then the
second one. He held strong so they couldn't get it."
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