Bobrovsky brilliance not enough as Panthers fall in Colorado 3-1
Carter Verhaeghe scored the only goal for Florida on a night the Cats struggled to generate offense
The Florida Panthers kicked of their latest road trip Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche.
Florida struggled to generate much offense and leaned heavily on their goaltender, falling to the host Avs 3-1 at Ball Arena.
The home team did well to control the majority of the play during much of the first period. When the game hit the 12-minute mark, shots were 10-1 in favor of the Avalanche.
A quick transition in the neutral zone led to the game’s opening goal.
Carter Verhaeghe picked the puck out of a scrum just outside the penalty boxes and quickly went into the Avalanche zone on a 2-on-1 with Anton Lundell.
The two Cats forwards pulled off a quick give-and-go, leading to Verhaeghe one-timing the puck into an open net.
That’s how the score would remain until late in the second period when the Avalanche capitalized on an aggressive forechecking shift.
After getting the puck deep in Florida’s zone and going to work physically, the puck eventually found its way to Devon Toews at the blue line.
His long wrist shot went over Sergei Bobrovsky’s shoulder and off the crossbar before deflecting down into the ice, back up in the air and off Bob’s backside before trickling into the net.
It was an unfortunate break for Bobrovsky, who had been brilliant while keeping Colorado off the scoreboard until that point.
Shortly after Florida killed off the Avs fourth power play of the game, another long shot by Toews eluded Bobrovsky, this one helped by a screed from Juuso Parssinen, to give Colorado their first lead of the game with 11:06 to go.
An empty-net goal sealed the deal for the Avalanche after a brief push by Florida, but it was really Bobrovsky that kept the game close as long as it was.
On to Utah.
QUICK THOUGHTS
Verhaeghe now has points in two straight games after failing to do so in his previous six outings.
Bobrovsky finished with 31 saves, including all 10 of the high danger shots Colorado sent his way.
Lundell is up to two goals and three points over his past four games.
Jesper Boqvist also assisted on Verhaeghe’s goal and has now racked up three goals and three assists over his past seven games.
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