Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was lights out while earning his 400th NHL victory

The Florida Panthers picked up a invigorating victory on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

It was big for a few reasons, as Florida is still playing without some key players in the lineup, and they were coming off one of their worst efforts of the young season in Tuesday’s 5-1 home loss to Minnesota.

The Panthers were also heading into a very tough building to play in against one of the hottest teams so far this season.

To see them jump out to a quick 2-0 lead on the New York Rangers and take some of the life out of the Madison Square Garden crowd was nice, but then holding the lead while going toe-to-toe with the Rangers on their home ice was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Here are the takeaways from Thursday’s big win in NYC:

BIG GAME BOB

Yes, we’ve talked about Sergei Bobrovsky winning his 400th NHL game on Thursday, becoming the youngest goaltender to do so in the process, but we can’t discuss the keys to the game without discussing how well Bob performed between the pipes.

Bob faced a season-high 10 high-danger shots and stopped all but one of them.

He only had to handle a total of 24 shots on the night, and that can make for a challenging game when you may not be too busy on the whole, but still face an extremely high number of quality chances.

It was a vintage Bobrovsky game. It was Playoff Bob.

Being that it was his 400th win just makes it that much sweeter.

“Especially early, he had a lot that he had to be right on,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “I think both goaltenders, there were some really good shooters tonight, and they made good saves. I don’t know that the teams necessarily missed their offense. They made saves.”

VALUE IN THE WIN

Coming off Tuesday’s loss to Minnesota and still searching for consistency while playing without Sasha Barkov and having to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the past several games, Florida showed up in a big way against the Rangers.

They had everything going against them, between the shortcomings on Florida’s side and the way New York had been playing, but none of that made a difference once the puck dropped.

It had a playoff-like feel, as both teams had plenty of high-end opportunities, but ultimately it was Florida that found a way despite not being at full strength.

“We need to learn how to win without all our players in the lineup, that’s a really important thing,” said Maurice. “It’s not just a win, you need to be able to play the same game night after night, that’s kid of our quest here. We’ve had four or five really good nights where we’ve played very well, and I’ll count this as one of them. We need to be able to dial that in on a nightly basis, so if you get into a game and you have four or five forwards out of your lineup, you can still look good.”

JESPER JIVING IN SEVERAL SPOTS

Jesper Boqvist is proving to be an extremely valuable player for Florida after signing with the Panthers during the summer.

Though initially viewed as a winger who can help out in the faceoff circle if needed, Boqvist slid to center amid the Cats’ injury issues at forward and has looked quite good while doing so.

He’s quickly grasped Maurice’s systems and understands the roles he’s being asked. That now includes on the penalty kill, where he has seen time paired up with Sam Reinhart and proved that he can be relied upon to play smart, responsible and aggressive hockey.

“He’s been good,” Maurice said. “I don’t think surprised is the right word, but the utility of him – I can play him at all three forward positions and have – and he’s become an important part of our penalty kill. With Barkov out, the Reinhart-Barkov combination is really important to us, they usually go first because its left and right centermen, but he’s earned that….On any line that we have, with the center icemen that are there, he’s going to add the perfect hybrid. He’ll defend first, but he’s going to make some plays.

LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA

Sergei Bobrovsky winning 400 NHL games further strengthens Hall of Fame resume

Panthers, Bobrovsky shut down high-flying Rangers for 3-1 win at MSG

Panthers begin road trip visiting Rangers for first time since Eastern Conference Final

Three takeaways: Panthers looked off from puck drop, Maurice quick to take blame

Sam Bennett stays hot, Panthers fall to Minnesota at home 5-1