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.
