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Bobrovsky quiets concerns in pivotal Game 2. 7 мая 2022 года. South Florida Sun - Sentinel; Fort Lauderdale, Fla. SUNRISE - First of all, his mother was a Siberian crane operator and his father a coal miner. So no one doubted Sergei Bobrovsky's inbred, blue-collar toughness. Still, there was relief in seeing the one Florida Panthers player who wasn't nervous - who didn't play nervous, who at the start of their decidedly shaky Game 2 looked in full control again - was the one whom people seem worried about the most. "[Bobrovsky] was really good, really solid, gave us a chance to get our game," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "I knew we'd get our game. It caught me off guard we weren't sharp, but we found it." This is the first and best takeaway from the Panthers after an unsettled, two-game split, as the first-round playoff series moves to Washington for Saturday's Game 3. You need a strong goalie in the playoffs, one who regularly covers for his team's trifling mistakes, steadies any uncertain patches of a night and buys time for the team to find its way. That's been Bobrovsky through two games against Washington. "We were nervous a little bit and got out of our rhythm of how we want to play," Brunette said of their slow start in Thursday's 5-1 win in Game 2. The Panthers were outshot 9-3 through the game's opening 16 minutes - their third shot from near mid-ice even drawing some sarcastic cheers from fans. They had a power play and didn't get off a single shot. They gave up a three-on-one break when defenseman Gustav Forsling slipped. After not playing a smart Game 1, they looked unsettled at the start of Game 2. The night, maybe the season, didn't splinter because Bobrovsky didn't. That's a win inside a win for the Panthers considering he's a prime question of their spring hopes. Forget his 13-2 finish to the regular season. The playoffs bring a different landscape, and Bobrovsky was benched in last year's series against Tampa Bay as the Panthers played three goalies. He also has an unsettled playoff history with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Due to that past and his position's importance, Bobrovsky was the prime Panthers player with a spotlight on him these playoffs. Washington star Alex Ovechkin, a fellow Russian, made a point to talk at Bobrovsky during Thursday's game, needling him in some form. "There is talk, here and there, but I'm not involved in it," Bobrovsky said. "It's not my business to talk." He stayed in such a competitive trance he didn't feel the need to carry teammates who stumbled at the start giving up the puck, losing battles on the boards and offering Washington a path to a two-game lead. "I don't think this way," Bobrovsky said. "My focus is one shot at a time. I don't think too much what happened, this and that. I'm focusing on one shot, one moment - one minute at a time, one game at a time." When Aaron Ekblad and Aleksander Barkov scored two goals within 92 seconds at the end of the first period Thursday night, the Panthers started being the Panthers again. There remained some decidedly mixed moments. Mason Marchment, for instance, took the kind of undisciplined penalty, a double-minor for roughing and slashing, that can swing a season this time of year. Washington didn't score as Bobrovsky had a couple of key saves. That led to the Panthers taking a 5-1 lead by the end of the second period and the crowd with a signature chant of, "We want 10." Then came a signature third period where they out shot Washington, 17-3. Washington's unsettled goaltending in the regular season was an issue by then. Starter Vitek Vanecek, was replaced after the second period by Ilya Samsonov. The series isn't yet defined. Each team can claim what they got after Thursday. "We're going to keep this train rolling," Aaron Ekblad said on Bally Sports Florida TV after Game 2. "It's 1-1 - a good scenario for us," Ovechkin said. The one constant through two games was Bobrovsky. He made 60 saves on 64 shots. He carried the Panthers after a regular season where the league's highest-scoring offense carried most nights. "I feel good," Bobrovsky said. "I had a good couple of games before the playoffs, and now I see the puck well. I followed the puck well. I tried to do my best to give the guys a chance to win." He became a goalie as a Siberian youth only because the regular goalie was sick one day. His parents picked him up from practice and saw him playing the one position they asked him not to play. But they saw him getting coaching, saw him enjoying the role. You can draw the line from that kid who wanted to play goalie to this 33-year-old man who allowed his team to find its way these first wo games. Or as he said, "I just did my job." Caption: Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky celebrate their 5-1 win in Game 2 of their playoff series against Washington on Thursday night. Marta Lavandier/AP |
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