The Florida Panthers have a commanding three games to none lead in the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. On Monday at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, Sergei Bobrovsky of Novokuznetsk, Russia collected his first National Hockey League postseason shutout as the Panthers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0.
Game Three Shutout
Bobrovsky made 32 saves for the shutout. He made seven saves in the first period, 14 saves in the second period and 11 saves in third period. Three Hurricanes players led Carolina with five shots on goal each. They were Sebastian Aho of Rauma, Finland, Brett Presce of Tarrytown, New York and Jaccob Slavin of Denver, Colorado. Both Slavin and Presce are defensemen.
How Panthers scored their only goal
Florida’s only goal of the game came at 10:05 of the second period. Sam Reinhart of West Vancouver, British Columbia scored from Matthew Tkachuk of Scottsdale, Arizona and Sam Bennett of Holland Landing, Ontario on the power play. Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei of Lakeville, Minnesota had taken a slashing penalty eight seconds before Reinhart scored.
First Career Playoff Shutout
Bobrovsky is a veteran in the NHL, having played 64 playoff games. Yet on Monday, he did something he has never done before and that is picking up a postseason shutout. Bobrovsky has 38 career regular season shutouts. Thirty-three were with the Columbus Blue Jackets and five with the Panthers. In 2018-19, in his final season with Columbus, Bobrovsky led the NHL with nine shutouts.
Sub-par Regular Season
Bobrovsky only had a sub-par regular season. He only had a record of 24 wins, 20 regulation losses and three losses in extra time. Bobrovsky had a goals against average of 3.07 and save percentage of .901. Only once before in Bobrovsky’s 13-year NHL career has he had a higher goals against average. That came in 2019-20 when he had a goals against average of 3.23 with the Panthers.
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