Sergei Bobrovsky reached a career milestone on Wednesday night, becoming the eighth goaltender in NHL history to earn 450 wins. Bobrovsky made 25 saves in regulation and overtime, then stopped three more shots during the shootout as the Florida Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins 5-4 at Amerant Bank Arena.
The victory ended a four-game losing streak for the Panthers, bringing their record to 29-24-3. “It’s important,” Bobrovsky said after the game. “It’s important not only because of the points and the opponent it’s against, but also for the emotional atmosphere in the locker room. To get the win and feel that enjoyment and build that chemistry and build, step by step, our game.”
The game began with an early goal by Sam Bennett for Florida being overturned after a successful offside challenge from Boston. Eetu Luostarinen later opened scoring officially for Florida at 4:22 of the first period. The Bruins quickly answered with Michael Eyssimont tying it up less than three minutes later.
Florida lost rookie Sandis Vilmanis to an upper-body injury in the first period; he did not return. Defenseman Tobias Bjornfot also left due to injury during play. Head coach Paul Maurice commented on their status: “I think Sandis is good; I don’t think Tobi will be a player for us,” Maurice said. “I think we’ve got three [players] that played in tonight’s game that won’t play tomorrow.”
After killing off a penalty late in the first, Boston took its first lead when Eyssimont scored again on a breakaway following his exit from the penalty box.
In response, Uvis Balinskis tied things up early in the second period on a power play goal assisted by Matthew Tkachuk. “Uvis Balinskis has just been so good for us,” Maurice said. “That’s a credit to Uvis and to our pro scouting staff to find a guy in the Czech league at that age to come in. Now he’s running our power play and he’s been incredible for us.”
Tkachuk then gave Florida a 3-2 lead with another power play goal before Anton Lundell extended it to 4-2 while shorthanded late in the second period. Lundell finished with one goal and two assists and was named second star of the game.
“I just try to do my best,” Lundell said regarding his increased responsibilities due to captain Aleksander Barkov’s absence from injury. “We all know where we are in the standings. All we can do is try and improve our game, win as many games as we can. These games are big.”
Boston narrowed Florida’s lead midway through the third period when Mark Kastelic deflected Charlie McAvoy’s point shot past Bobrovsky, making it 4-3. Casey Mittelstadt tied it up at 10:30 of the third by scoring on Boston’s sixth power play opportunity.
Despite frequent penalties throughout regulation, Florida’s penalty kill unit was effective except for Mittelstadt’s goal. Bobrovsky praised his teammates’ defensive efforts: “The PK was great,” he said. “The guys fought. They had good sticks. It’s an important component of our game, and the guys stood tall for that.”
After overtime ended scoreless, shootout goals from Lundell and Brad Marchand secured Florida’s win alongside three saves from Bobrovsky.
“It’s good to get the win,” Marchand said about defeating Boston. “They (the Bruins) are playing really well right now and competing hard. It’s just unfortunate we got in a little penalty trouble there. I thought we played a good game. Special teams were really good tonight and were the difference.”
Paul Maurice summarized performances by saying: “I think we got some incredible performances. Sam Reinhart, just so good. I think I had (Anton) Lundell at 16 minutes through two periods. Sergei Bobrovsky. (Gustav) Forsling. We had so many guys play incredibly hard.”
Bobrovsky added: “It’s important to have that emotion, to have that winning feeling. It builds the chemistry and build[s] the locker room.”
Lundell commented on returning from injury ahead of international competition: “Obviously, I want to stay healthy. That’s number one. I’m just happy to be back. I was dealing with a minor injury, but now it’s good to be back. It’s almost time to go [to the Winter Olympics], but we still have a huge game tomorrow.”
Statistically over recent games, Florida has scored seven power play goals across their last seven matches; Evan Rodrigues led faceoff wins at 64 percent; Gustav Forsling logged over thirty minutes on ice; Aaron Ekblad and Niko Mikkola each blocked four shots; Bobrovsky made twelve high-danger saves according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
Florida will close out its schedule before an upcoming break with another divisional matchup against Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night at Benchmark International Arena.
