Spencer Knight clear no.1 Panthers goaltender

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The Florida Panthers are expecting big things this season. In fact, when they made the offseason blockbuster deal with the Calgary Flames on July 22 in acquiring winger Matthew Tkachuk of Scottsdale, Arizona, they had the Stanley Cup in mind. However, along the way it is clear the Panthers number one goaltender at the moment is not Sergei Bobrovsky, the Russian goaltender who is making $10 million per year in each of the next four seasons. The Panthers number one goalie is Spencer Knight of Stamford, Connecticut, who is making only $925,o00 this season. That is $9.075 million less than the amount the Panthers are paying Bobrovsky to sit on the bench.

Knight’s 2022-23 NHL statistics

So far in 2022-23, Knight has a record of five wins and one loss, and one shutout, with a goals against average of 2.18 and a save percentage of .925. He has beaten the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes.

Knight’s third career shutout

Knight’s shutout in 2022-23 came on Wednesday in a 3-0 win over the Hurricanes at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. Knight made 11 saves in the first period, 11 saves in the second period, and 18 saves in the third period.

Last season, Knight had two shutouts for the Panthers. These were the first two shutouts of his National Hockey League career. Knight had 17 saves for the Panthers in a 3-0 Florida win over the Ducks on March 18, 2022, and 27 saves for the Panthers in a 4-0 Florida win over the  Senators on April 28, 2022. In an interesting statistic, Knight made only four fewer saves on Wednesday than the number of saves he made in the two games combined where he collected his first two NHL shutouts.

Struggles for Bobrovsky

In contrast, Bobrovsky has a record of three wins, four regulation losses and one loss in extra time. His goals against average is 3.29 (1.11 higher than Knight), and a save percentage of .897. The goals against average and save percentage is the worst in his NHL career.

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