Bobrovsky made 25 saves on Thursday, 11 of which were of the high-danger variety
The Florida Panthers knew that Thursday’s Game 3 was a must-win.
Falling behind 0-3 in a playoff series never ends well.
To date, 204 teams have fallen behind 0-3 in a 7-game series.
Nine of those teams were able to force a Game 7 but only four completed the comeback for a series win.
It’s beyond rare.
That’s why the Panthers, and everyone else, knew they had to win Game 3.
Fortunately for the home team, goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was back in the zone.
He stopped 25 shots, keeping 11 of Vegas’ 12 high-danger chances out of the net, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Golden Knights’ expected goals in Game 3 was 3.4.
No matter to Bob, who re-entered the Conn Smythe conversation by helping the Panthers steal Thursday's game and make a series of the Stanley Cup Final.
As usual, while speaking to the media afterwards, Bobrovsky only wanted to talk about how well his teammates played in front of him when discussing the big win.
“For this game, the coaches gave us gave us a pretty clear plan and I thought guys executed unbelievable tonight,” he said. “We defended very well, we didn’t give much space, room and time for them, so that’s a big win for us.”
Florida has yet to play their best game during the Final, but still find themselves down just 2-1 with the next game coming on their home ice.
The momentum in the series is up for grabs, with whoever wins Game 4 on Saturday taking a huge boost into what could potentially become a best-of-3 series.
“It's a big win for us, definitely,” Bobrovsky said. “To win at home, the way the series goes, it's a big win that we can build from.”
Despite playing so well all night, Bobrovsky found himself on the Panthers bench during the waning minutes, helpless to contribute as his teammates fought to bring the game back to even.
The bench, and the entire building, received a massive boost when Matthew Tkachuk found a Carter Verhaeghe rebound to tie the game at two with 2:13 to go.
“It’s definitely a huge boost for us, and it gave us hope,” Bobrovsky said of the goal.
During Florida’s improbable march to the Stanley Cup Final, Bobrovsky has played as big a part as anyone in helping them travel so far.
Sure, the same can be said about Tkachuk and his many timely goals, but it’s probably safe to say that entering the playoffs, Tkachuk was viewed as a player expected to carry the load if the team was going to succeed.
The expectations surrounding Bobrovsky were non-existent.
He’s got a high ceiling and the skills have been apparent during his four years with Florida, but there was never any true consistency.
Flashes of greatness? Sure.
But it wasn’t until this playoff run that Florida began to see the true return on investment in signing Bobrovsky to a seven-year, $70 million deal during the summer of 2019.
Bobrovsky knows he wasn’t at his best in Game 2, but neither were his teammates.
Florida struggled collectively on Monday night in Las Vegas, from top to bottom, which is why the final score was as lop-sided as it was.
Fortunately for the Panthers, Bobrovsky isn’t the kind of guy who dwells on a bad game.
Whether it’s a shutout or a five-goal loss, Bob knows how to process a game and move forward, keeping each day he’s on the ice independent of any other.
“It is what it is, I only can control the things that I can control,” Bobrovsky said. “You try to give your best, and sometimes it happens, so it’s okay, as long as you stay mentally (tough), and the series goes on.”
It does go on.
Game 4 is on Saturday night.
A Vegas win will give them a chance to play for the Stanley Cup on their home in Game 5.
A Florida victory will make it a whole new series and put the momentum squarely in the Cats’ corner.
It should be a doozie.