Sergei Bobrovsky split his legs and splayed his body all the way across the goalmouth while final seconds ticked away on the first period Thursday and the Edmonton Oilers tried to finally take a lead on the Florida Panthers. It was another save — his 17th thus far — and it was maybe his best yet, falling to his stomach and stretching his body as wide as possible to deny Jesse Puljujarvi’s tip-in try. The puck hit off his chest and dropped to the ice in front of his right leg, where his the Panthers could sweep it away safely to escape the first period unscathed.
Before he headed back to the locker room, Radko Gudas made a pit stop at his net. He bumped fists with Bobrovsky and punched him in the shoulder, and then skated away. The goaltender grabbed his water bottle, bowed his head and slowly followed Gudas off the ice. His 17-save first period had kept Florida alive and gave the Panthers a chance to regroup for 6-0 rout in Alberta.
It was exactly what Florida needed. After losing 10 of their last 13 on the road including a blowout loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, the Panthers (27-8-5) won by wearing down the Oilers (18-16-2) and Bobrovsky gave his teammates a chance to do it. He made 17 saves in the first period and 12 more in the second, and by then Florida was up 2-0 going into the third. In the first period in Edmonton, the Oilers outshot the Panthers, 17-7, yet they were tied 0-0 and Florida had a chance to take the lead for good in the second.
Bobrovsky finished with 40 saves for his first shutout since 2019 in his 12th game as a Panther. It was also Florida’s first shutout of the season.
In the second period, Aleksander Barkov scored with 14:32 left in the second period and fellow forward Carter Verhaeghe added another 2:39 later. Sam Reinhart had the primary assist on both goals.
The win also vaults the Panthers back into a tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division and they’ve amassed their 59 points in one fewer game than their in-state rival.
There was no time for Bobrovsky to ease into the game and hardly a moment of respite in the first period. He faced his first shot with 18:18 left in the first when he denied superstar center Connor McDavid on a breakaway and then he saved six more in the next two minutes. He made three saves on a penalty kill with about nine and a half minutes left in the period, and had 14 total in the first 11:30, including three in the final 2:43.
In the third period, Florida blew the game open. Barkov scored again with 16:47 left and winger Anthony Duclair made it 4-0 with 4:20 left, assisted by All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau, who moved up into a tie for second in the league with 54 points after a two-assist game.
Wingers Sam Bennett and Owen Tippett, playing in his first NHL game since he was sent down to the American Hockey League last week, also added garbage-time goals in the blowout win.
