As the seconds ticked away in the second period of the Florida Panthers' Game 1 loss to the New York Islanders, Sergei Bobrovsky stared at the possibility of a postseason game slipping away from the Panthers.
A giveaway set up a 2-on-1 for the Islanders as Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson charged down the ice against Riley Stillman with less than 40 seconds left in the period. It would take either a spectacular save or a spectacular defensive effort to keep Florida from entering the third period trailing by three goals.
Bobrovsky steeled himself to cover the whole net. He knew a shot would probably come cleanly, he just didn't know whether it would be from Beauvillier or Nelson.
Beauvillier slid a pass by Stillman and over to Nelson on the right side of the ice, and Bobrovsky sprawled to his left. By the time Nelson slapped a one-timer toward the net, the goaltender was where he needed to be to block the shot. Not even a minute of game time later, the Panthers cut New York's two-goal lead in half.
"He was outstanding in the game for us," coach Joel Quenneville said Sunday.
Games like those _ and, specifically, plays like those _ are exactly why Florida gave Bobrovsky a seven-year, $70 million deal in the offseason. The Panthers were outplayed for most of the day, their offense underachieved and their defense made a handful of potentially catastrophic mistakes, and still Bobrovsky had them in it all the way until the end.
He was the single biggest reason Florida only lost 2-1 in Game 1 of the qualifying round at Scotiabank Arena. He remains the Panthers' greatest hope to turn around and win the series, even after he had just a .900 save percentage and 3.25 goals against average in the regular season.
"Bob played amazing that game," defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. "We need him to do that every single night."
Jonathan Huberdeau shared the same sort of message Saturday, although with even more confidence in his goaltender.
"Bob was really good tonight," the All-Star left wing said after the one-goal loss. "He's going to be good the whole series."
If Huberdeau is right, the Panthers will have a real chance to rally and win their qualifying series, and advance into the traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs bracket for only the sixth time in franchise history. Florida's turnaround can begin Tuesday at noon when the Panthers play Game 2 of this best-of-five series against the Islanders in Toronto.
Although strategies can change quickly in a best-of-five series, Quenneville seems set on riding his two-time Vezina Trophy winner. Even with a back-to-back looming _ Game 3 is set for Wednesday in Ontario _ and backup goaltender Chris Driedger largely outplaying Bobrovsky in the regular season, Quenneville doubled down on his praise for Bobrovsky when asked whether Driedger could be an option for Game 3.
"Driedgs did a great job for us this year," Quenneville said, "but I was very happy with Bob yesterday."
In Game 1, made few mistakes and more difficult 1-on-1 saves. He stopped 26 of the 28 shots he saw, and the only two to beat him came after a failed clear and on a power play.
When he conceded for the first time with eight minutes left in the first period, Florida had only put two shots on goal and played the vast majority of the game in its own defensive zone. Particularly for the first 30 minutes, the Panthers put Bobrovsky at a massive disadvantage by giving up three power plays and failing to sustain any sort of extended offensive attack.
Florida, however, made Bobrovsky one of the highest paid goalies in the NHL specifically so it could have a chance to win a game like this. Defense has been an issue for years for the Panthers and Bobrovsky has proved he can make the sort of spectacular saves needed to overcome a mistake-prone defense. Last year, he proved it in the playoffs when he helped the Columbus Blue Jackets sweep the top-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning even as they were outshot in three of the four games.
On Saturday, the shots were even for high-octane Florida and defensive-minded New York. For the Panthers to come from behind and extend their stay in Canada, they need their offensive stars to deliver. Right now at least, Bobrovsky is holding up his end.
"Guys felt a lot better," Bobrovsky said, "but we need to take it to another level."
