
Much of the headlines and attention will go to Brad Marchand striking less than a minute into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Monday night.
Or to the abundance of goals that the Florida Panthers put on the scoreboard in routing the Edmonton Oilers to take a 2-1 lead with a 6-1 triumph.
But the play of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky might be what ultimately decides this series and with it, who goes home with Lord Stanley.
On this night, Bobrovsky was excellent, stopping 32 of the 33 shots thrown against him. The lone one that got away came on a Corey Perry power play early in the second period.
And even then, his teammates quickly answered back, building the advantage back up to 4-1 with two goals in the next six minutes.
The 36-year-old Bobrovsky has been a strong point for years for Florida, recording back-to-back 42-save games already in the Stanley Cup. But he had also allowed eight goals during that 167-plus minutes on the ice.
In the postseason so far, Bobrovsky owns a 13-6 record with a .912 save percentage. That number rose to .970 on Monday night, and if he hangs around there or slightly below, even the high-powered offense of the Oilers is going to find the going difficult to score.
The two-time Vezina Trophy winner had the crowd in a frenzy with chants of “Bobby! Bobby!” throughout, and will look to do the same when he returns to action for Game 4 Thursday night.
On the flip side, Edmonton pulled goalie Stuart Skinner after he allowed five goals on 23 shots for Calvin Pickard, who saw just one get by on eight attempts.
Skinner has now allowed 10 goals in the last two games and 13 during the Stanley Cup.
