‘It was so much fun to play against them’: Sergei Bobrovsky was unfazed facing relentless Oilers attack
Bobrovsky made 38 saves for the Panthers during their 5-1 win in Edmonton on Saturday
There is an argument to be made that Sergei Bobrovsky is at his best when facing the most adversity.
He was on another planet during much of the Florida Panthers run to the Stanley Cup Final earlier this year, and the season before he was arguably Florida’s best and most consistent player during their 10 games in the postseason.
Additionally, some of Bobrovsky's best regular season outings have come against the NHL’s elite, and that was the case on Saturday night in Edmonton.
Bobrovsky made with 38 saves for Florida as they bounced back from consecutive shutout losses to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 at Rogers Place.
Bob’s busy night included stopping superstar Connor McDavid five times and picking up the 11th assist of his career. It came on Sam Bennett’s second period power play goal.
During the second intermission, Bannett gave his goaltender some propert credit for the offensive contribution, telling Bally Sports’ Katie Engleson, “Our power play needed it, so maybe we just need to give to Bob a little more.”
When the dust settled on the night, Bobrovsky finished with eight high danger stops.
Bob also gave up only one goal on a night he had an expected goals against of 3.11, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Perhaps as a cherry on top, Bobrovsky got to stop veteran Sam Gagner on a penalty shot early in the third period, making it look easy while staying square to the shooter and not biting on the elaborate attempt.
After the game, Bobrovsky addressed the media. Here’s everything he had to say:
On the win: “It was a good game. It was definitely a dangerous opponent. It's fun to play those games against the really good offensive teams. I was involved in the game and it was fun.”
On Bennett's comments about Bob’s playmaking ability: “(laughing) It just happens. I'm not going to take credit for that.”
On a big early save he made on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: “Those moments in the beginning of the game, they are so important. Whoever scores first takes the advantage, so you obviously want to play with the lead.”
On building confidence with the win: “It was a good game. It’s a big two points. We lost two games in a row, so it was a big game for us and it's great to win the game.”
On facing potent Oilers offensive attack: “They are so dangerous off rush. They’ve got lots of speed. They have unbelievable players. It was so much fun to play against them.”
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