MIAMI — Sergei Bobrovsky was a bit of a forgotten man heading into and even to begin the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Alex Lyon earned the lion's share of the starts for the Florida Panthers down the stretch, and he remained in net for the opening three games of the series against the Boston Bruins.
Bobrovsky came in as relief in a Game 3 loss, then started Game 4, which resulted in another loss.
Still, he was given the start for Game 5, leading to a rather awkward interview on ESPN with Lyon standing right there.
It proved to be a solid decision, as Bobrovsky made a season high 44 saves against the Boston Bruins, helping force a Game 6 back in Florida on Friday.
"Playoffs, it's the best time to play hockey," Bobrovsky said after the game, per NHL.com. "So, I enjoyed tonight, and guys helped a lot, so we [defended] really well against a really, really good team. They got good offensive guys and they played great too. We're happy with the win."
No save was more important than this one on a Brad Marchand breakaway opportunity literally at the last second of the third period.
In overtime, a misplay by Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark led directly to the game-winning goal from Matthew Tkachuk, keeping Florida's Stanley Cup hopes alive.
Locked on Panthers host Armando Velez gave credit to Florida coach Paul Maurice for helping the team weather storms, and the confidence he had in Bobrovsky heading into Game 5 certainly paid off.
Certainly you expect your hiughest paid players to be key competitors in the postseason, and Bobrovsky is right at the top of the list with Aleksander Barkov with an annual cap hit of $10 million.
Barkov only has three assists in five games so far this series, and Florida's chances of extending it to seven games would go way up if he were to break out like Bobrovsky already has.
