2023-12-28 03:43:02
“He’s unreal,” Barkov said of Bobrovsky, who improved to 15-9-1. “He’s giving us a chance to win every game. Today was unreal by him. He stopped a lot of huge scoring chances by them, especially in the third. He gave us a chance, and we took it.”
With 1:16 left in regulation, Barkov drew a tripping penalty to put the Panthers on the power play. After that, Vasilevskiy never even had an opportunity to leave his net to give Tampa Bay the extra attacker as the Panthers held on to the puck as time ticked away.
Given how tight the Atlantic Division is, tonight was a huge four-point swing for Florida.
“Just stick with it,” Barkov said. “We came into this game with the same mindset we had in the Vegas game. Nothing’s going to be easy. Everyone just has to play hard and play a simple game. Your hands are not always there, so you have to use your legs and play as hard as possible and as quick as possible. Today was a very good example of that.”
THEY SAID IT
“Work hard and you’re always going to get your chances. Everyone’s on the same page, all five guys on the ice. When that happens and when everyone’s on the same page and working as hard as possible, you’re going to get your looks.” – Aleksander Barkov on the top line’s performance
“He was insane. He makes a huge save at the end of the second to keep it 2-0, a shot from right between the hash marks. He made some huge saves today. Deflections, rebound control was good. He was on top of his game today.” – Evan Rodrigues on Sergei Bobrovsky
CATS STATS
– The Panthers are 13-0-2 when scoring first this season.
– Aaron Ekblad blocked a team-high two shots on goal.
– Will Lockwood and Niko Mikkola each recorded four hits.
– Sam Reinhart notched his second shorthanded goal of the season.
– Florida led 27-12 in shot attempts when Brandon Montour was on the ice at 5-on-5.
– Aleksander Barkov recorded the 178th multi-point game of his career, breaking a tie with Olli Jokinen (177) for the fourth most among Finnish-born players in NHL history.
– Florida surrendered just nine shot attempts at 5-on-5 in the first period.
WHAT’S NEXT?
We’ve got a heavyweight matchup coming up in Sunrise.
Heading back home, the Panthers will look to stay hot when they host the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
For tickets, click HERE.
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