Opinion: Panthers’ Bobrovsky Heating Up at the Right Time

After being a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as one of the league’s best goalies in the regular season and winning the Stanley Cup last season, Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky came into this season with not much else to prove that he will go down as one of the game’s best goaltenders.

When it comes to his play in the regular season, Bobrovsky, 36, has posted outstanding numbers. He currently has 429 career wins to go along with a 2.58 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage, and 49 shutouts.

For his play in the regular season in his career, he has accomplished the following:

• Two Vezina Trophies (2013 and 2017)
• First Team All-Star (2013 and 2017)
• NHL All-Star (2015, 2017, and 2024)
• Stanley Cup (2024)

While his play in the regular season is impressive, greatness gets its chance to shine in the postseason. That has certainly been the case for Bobrovsky throughout the last two postseasons.

In leading the Panthers to their first Cup in franchise history last season, Bobrovsky went 16-8 with a 2.32 goals-against average, a .906 save percentage, and two shutouts. He proved to the rest of the league last year that he could shut the door when it mattered most, and he proved to the Panthers that he is worth all the money that they are paying him.

After getting off to a slow start in this year’s postseason, Bobrovsky has caught fire and has the Panthers one win away from going to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight season after beating the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 6-2 on Saturday night, May 25, going up 3-0 in the series. While the team has gotten solid scoring and play up and down the lineup, it is Bobrovsky’s strong play in the net that has this team rolling.

As of this writing (Sunday morning, May 25), Bobrovsky is 11-4 with a 2.12 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage, and three shutouts. Here is where Bobrovsky ranks in the playoffs amongst goaltenders in terms of his statistics:

• First in wins (11)
• First in minutes of ice time (906:05)
• Tied for first in shutouts with Stuart Skinner of the Edmonton Oilers (Three)
• Second in goals-against average (2.12)
• Second in saves (327)
• Second in shots against
• Tied for eighth in save percentage (.911)

There are several reasons why Bobrovsky is on top of his game. It starts with his confidence level.

Bobrovsky now knows what it takes to win the Cup. He was one of his team’s best players in the postseason last year and was one of the main reasons why they lifted hockey’s Holy Grail when all was said and done.

He has simply carried that know-how into this year’s playoffs. He does not sweat the small stuff, he moves on quickly after allowing a goal, and he understands what he needs to do to give his team the best chance to win when it matters most.

A great example of this has been his play in his team’s current Eastern Conference Finals series against the Carolina Hurricanes. Simply put, Bobrovsky has been as steady as they come between the pipes, as one can see below:

• Game 1 on Tuesday, May 20: Stopped 31 of 33 shots and got the victory (.939 save percentage)
• Game 2 on Thursday, May 22: 17-save shutout victory (1.000 save percentage)
• Game 3 on Saturday, May 24: Stopped 23 of 25 shots and got the victory (.920 save percentage)

Much like he did last spring, Bobrovsky has also been able to come up with the big save when his team needs one. This was especially the case in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, May 18.

After the Panthers controlled much of the play in the first period, the Leafs took over in the latter half of said period, but were not able to get a puck by Bobrovsky. He had to come up with several saves from in close and finished the night stopping 19 of 20 shots.

Lastly, Bobrovsky is playing well because his team knows how to support him. His team blocks a lot of shots, does a great job of allowing him to see pucks, and they also do enough scoring of their own to keep the pressure off of him.

While there is still a bunch of hockey left to be played, if the Panthers manage to win their second straight Cup, there is no doubt that Bobrovsky will once again be one of the main reasons why the team accomplished hockey’s ultimate goal.

ITR 39: Conference Finals – Inside The Rink

Join Conrad and Chris as they wrap up the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs and look ahead to the Conference Finals between Edmonton & Dallas and Carolina & Florida.

1. ITR 39: Conference Finals 35:18
2. ITR 38: Quenneville is a Duck 38:19
3. ITR 37: Round Two 45:11
4. ITR 36: Coaching Carousel 48:56
5. ITR 35: Round One 52:27