Bobrovsky, Vasilevskiy Enter First Round Match-Up At Height of Their Game
Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy will renew their rivalry on a hot streak. And they are both capable of stealing a series.
FORT LAUDERDALE — When the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning renew their rivalry in the playoffs for the fourth time in the past five years, so will Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky.
And they have both been known to be able to steal a series.
Vasilevskiy put up arguably one of the greatest postseason series performances in NHL history when Tampa Bay swept Florida in 2022. He only allowed three goals in the series, stopping 151 of 154 shots for an absurd .981 save percentage. He picked up a 49-save shutout in the closeout Game 4 victory.
The two-time Vezina Trophy winner wrapped up a Vezina-caliber season, finishing second in wins (38), and fourth in both save percentage (.921) and goals-against average (2.18) in the regular season.
“He has arguably been the best goalie of the last however many years,“ Sam Reinhart said. “Against someone like that, you have to make it as difficult as you can. You have to get in his eyes, you have to get in his face, you gotta attack the net, really. If he sees it, he is going to stop it.”
Bobrovsky finished the 2024 Round 1 rematch with a .891 save percentage — allowing 14 goals in the five-game series — but he helped put the series on ice for Florida in Game 2.
With the game tied at 2-2 with less than six minutes to go, Matt Dumba appeared to have a look at a wide open net. Only Bobrovsky dove with his back turned to the play and came up with the save heard around the Sunshine State. Carter Verhaeghe scored the overtime winner to put Florida up 2-0 in the series and Tampa Bay never came close to digging out of that hole in a five-game series loss.
Florida does not allow a whole lot of shots, but when the big ones come, Bobrovsky has been there to stop them.
“Bobby brings a lot of confidence to our group,” Gustav Forsling said. “He is calm back there and it spreads to the whole team. We want to make sure he sees the puck. That’s our job as defensemen, and if he sees it, he’s going to save the puck.”
Both goalies have been at the top of their game since returning from the 4 Nations break on Feb. 22.
Vasilevskiy has arguably been the best goaltender in the league down the stretch, boasting a 13-5-2 record with a .927 save percentage and a 1.89 goals-against average.
Bobrovksy recovered from a rocky start to the season to finish with a 10-7-0 record with a .914 save percentage and a 1.95 goals-against average down the stretch.
Both goaltenders are capable of turning a series on its head, but when the puck drops on Tuesday night, it’s only a matter of which one ends up turning the tide.