Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky of Novokuznetsk, Russia recorded his fifth National Hockey League playoff shutout on Sunday. He accomplished the feat in a 2-0 Panthers win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. With the win, the Panthers tied their best out of seven Eastern Conference semifinal series at two games apiece. It has been a homer series so far as the Maple Leafs have won two games in Toronto and the Panthers have won two games in Florida.
Inside look at the shutout
Bobrovsky made 23 saves overall for the shutout. He made only four saves in the first period, eight saves in the second period, and 11 saves in the third period. John Tavares of Mississauga, Ontario led the Maple Leafs with five shots on goal.
Who contributed offensively for Florida?
The Panthers got a game-winning goal from Carter Verhaeghe of Toronto, Ontario. He scored on the power-play at 15:45 of the first period from Matthew Tkachuk of Scottsdale, Arizona and Aleksander Barkov of Tampere, Finland.
The Panthers then got an insurance marker into an empty net. Sam Bennett of Holland Landing, Ontario scored from defenseman Aaron Ekblad of Windsor, Ontario at 12:09 of the third period.
Look back at Bobrovsky’s four prior postseason shutouts
Bobrovsky’s first playoff shutout came two years ago on May 22, 2023 in game three of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, in a 1-0 Panthers win over the Carolina Hurricanes. That was followed by two shutouts during the Panthers’s Stanley Cup run. He had a shutout on May 22, 2024, in game one of the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals, a 3-0 Panthers win over the New York Rangers, and a shutout on June 8, 2024 in game one of the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals, a 3-0 Panthers win over the Edmonton Oilers. Then this season, Bobrovsky made 19 saves in a 2-0 Panthers win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 24 in game two of the first round.
