NHL Eastern Conference Playoff Series First Game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers made it clear that this battle was going to be fun. Almost 140 playing time, almost a full four overtimes and an incredible denouement at the very start of the confrontation woke up a notable appetite on the eve of the second meeting of the teams in Raleigh. And the «hurricanes» with «panthers» did not disappoint — the continuation of the banquet turned out exactly the way they wanted to see it.
The Hurricanes lived up to their nickname and stormed home in the first period, hitting 20 shots on target at once. For comparison, the “Panthers” only 11 shots reached the possessions of “Carolina”, and at one point the advantage of the owners of the arena in Raleigh was 18:2! Obviously, the efforts of Rod Brindamore's wards could not be in vain, and they managed to print the opponent's gate. In the second minute, Hurricanes defenseman Jaylen Chatfield opened both the score in the game and his career NHL playoff goals. . The Panthers coaching staff successfully took an offside request from the Kanz players. It is noteworthy that immediately after Chatfield's goal, Brindamore did the same — thanks to the Carolina challenge, the judges did not count Gustav Forsling's goal. The reason is the same — offside.
However, “Panthers” even in such a difficult situation and did not think to give up. Especially Alexander Barkov, whose hands just created a real masterpiece. Russian Finn, coming out on a penny, deceived the goalkeeper, “Carolina” and, showing that he would perform a throw from under his feet, immediately threw the puck forward and sent it into the net. A magnificent goal — one of the best in the entire Stanley Cup.
And it was preceded by a very important rescue by Sergei Bobrovsky. Save Russian goalkeeper “Panthers” allowed the guests to build a smashing attack.
And did anyone suspect at that moment that it was Bobrovsky who would become the main character of today's meeting? Undoubtedly. Even in the first period, the Russian reflected a lot of shots, and subsequently sentenced the “Carolina” to defeat.
“It was a game of exhaustion. I just try to be patient and wait for the moment, wait for the shot. At this point, you don’t feel your body as much anymore. It’s more about psychology, you don’t think anymore, you are completely focused on the game,” — this is how Bobrovsky spoke about the exhausting four overtimes of the first match of the series.
But today, Bob looked like there were no six hours of play just over a day ago. The Russian goalkeeper had a great performance in another match and once again caused nothing but delight and admiration. Right now, Sergey is one of the best (if not the best) players in the entire NHL playoffs. And this causes great pride in the Russian goalkeeper. Over the past years, he has been mercilessly criticized, and fans and the media have already written off the Russian from the account and claimed that his rich contract was a huge mistake of the Florida bosses. But now Bobrovsky has worked absolutely every cent of his salary. The great Russian goalkeeper, who was previously considered a non-cup player, wins matches and series. Step by step, he is getting closer to his first career Stanley Cup Final.
Today Bobrovsky impressed the entire hockey community with his game. Time after time, he reflected the extremely dangerous shots of the Hurricanes players, which in normal life would have ended in goals. But not in this case. From hopelessness, the leaders of the “Carolina” even ceased to withstand the nerves.
Particularly striking was the save of Bobrovsky in the second period after the throw of Teuvo Teryavinen from the transfer of Martin Nechas. In 9 out of 10 cases, this episode would have ended with a goal. But one incident came against a Russian Panthers goalkeeper who miraculously managed to regroup and close the free corner.
«Bob! Did you seriously stop that shot?!» — the NHL press service is shocked.
And we are together with her.
It is interesting that Bobrovsky has pleased with such saves before. More than five years ago, the Russian, then playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets, in the regular season match against the Montreal Canadiens, similarly saved his possessions.
In many ways, a great game Bobrovsky helped “Florida” to avoid defeat in regular time of the match. Yes, even in overtime. From the very beginning of the first additional period, the Russian goalkeeper said that he intended to return to Sunrise only with a victory.
Matthew Tkachak helped him to achieve what he wanted. The leader of the “Panthers” repeated his trick from the last game and once again became the author of the winning goal in overtime. Fortunately, this time the Florida forward did not wait for the moment in the fourth overtime and decided the outcome of the meeting at the very beginning of the first, after which he still immediately ran into the locker room.
2:1 — Florida again beats the “Carolina” and transfers the series to his native Sunrise with a comfortable advantage (2-0). And Sergei Bobrovsky — stormy applause. Today he was recognized as the first star of the meeting. In the last three playoff games in which the Panthers won (one over the Maple Leafs, two over the Hurricanes), Sergei Bobrovsky saved 150 of 155 shots. The Russian goalkeeper of Florida also broke a series of six games in a row , in which he missed exactly two goals per game, and today he missed only once. America is already demanding to give the Russian the prize for the most valuable player in the playoffs — the Conn Smythe Trophy. And with him the Stanley Cup at the same time.