Sergei Bobrovsky's brilliance leads Florida Panthers to second straight Stanley Cup title
ice hockey
By ALANIS THAMES
The loudest cheers among Florida Panthers fans at Amerant Bank Arena are always for Sergei Bobrovsky.
Pregame warmups. Jumbotron appearances. Each and every save. Florida fans know how important the veteran goaltender is to their team.
So do the Panthers.
It's why Florida never appeared rattled during its third straight Stanley Cup Final run. The defending champion Panthers remained even-keeled, never looking too far ahead, and certainly not harping on the past — mirroring the attitude of their unflappable, two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender.
And Bobrovsky has rewarded their trust in him with a brilliant showing in this year's playoffs, which he stamped with a 28-save effort Tuesday in Florida's 5-1 romp over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 to win their second straight title.
He stopped 192 of 209 shots on goal in the final and allowed 17 goals. He nearly had his fourth shutout of the postseason before Vasily Podkolzin broke up that bid with the Oilers' only goal Tuesday with just 4:39 left.
With Tuesday's win, Bobrovsky moved to 13-8 in 22 series-clinching games in his career, tying Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy (13-9) for the most among active goaltenders.
He was even more dominant than last year's title run, when he was again a key piece in Florida's success with a .906 save percentage.
Ask Florida's veteran goaltender what he thinks of his success and he will likely sum it up in a few words. He'll express his gratitude and talk about how great it is to play the game he loves. Then he will deflect the attention to his teammates.
That's who he's been since he took the starting job three games into the first round in 2023 and what the Panthers have come to appreciate about him. He's been the calming presence in their locker room amid all kinds of chaos during this dominant three-year run.
His focus is always on what it takes to win and his credit always goes to the ones around him.
That simple approach has worked for him.
Going back to the 2023 playoffs, no goalie has more wins, saves or shutouts than Bobrovsky. He's the second-oldest goaltender in the last decade with a playoff shutout.
Entering Tuesday, only three other goalies since 1981-82 had won the Vezina Trophy twice and hoisted the Stanley Cup trophy multiple times.
Bobrovsky joined that group on Tuesday.
The others?
They're all Hall of Famers.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
02-07-2025
- Japan Times
Mitch Marner on Maple Leafs exit: 'Leaving isn't easy'
Mitch Marner issued an emotional farewell to Toronto on Tuesday, the same day his hometown Maple Leafs officially confirmed he had been traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. "Leaving isn't easy. This city is where I grew up, where I fell in love with hockey, and where I've had the incredible honour of living out my childhood dream," he wrote in an Instagram post. "Wearing the Maple Leaf on my chest wasn't just about playing for a team, it was about representing my home." The Maple Leafs acquired forward Nicolas Roy in exchange for Marner, who signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with Toronto as part of the trade before heading to Vegas. Marner, 28, was seen as the No. 1 player in the upcoming unrestricted free agent class. He has spent his entire nine-year NHL career in Toronto, which selected him fourth overall in the 2015 draft. He said he leaves Toronto with unfulfilled goals. "When I was drafted, all I wanted was to help bring a Stanley Cup to Toronto," he said. "That was always the goal, and I came up short. I know how much this team means to this city, and I know the expectations that came with wearing this jersey. I gave everything I had, but in the end, it wasn't enough. That's hard to admit, because I wanted it so badly for all of us." He has career totals of 221 goals and 520 assists (741 points) in 657 games and is coming off a career year that saw him total personal bests of 75 assists and 102 points in 81 games. The 28-year-old Roy had 15 goals and 16 assists in 71 games last season. Over the course of his eight-year career with the Carolina Hurricanes and Golden Knights, he has accrued 68 goals and 98 assists in 369 games. The Leafs also confirmed the re-signing of fellow forward Matthew Knies on Tuesday. They kept Knies from entering free agency by signing him to a six-year contract extension worth $46.5 million. Knies, 22, was due to become a restricted free agent on Tuesday. The new deal has an average annual value of $7.75 million. Knies has played two full seasons with Toronto, posting career highs in 2024-25 with 58 points (29 goals, 29 assists), 152 shots on goal, 41 blocks and 182 hits in 78 regular-season games. For his career, Knies has 44 goals, 50 assists, 73 blocks and 353 hits in 161 games since Toronto selected him in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft.
Japan Today
18-06-2025
- Japan Today
Sergei Bobrovsky's brilliance leads Florida Panthers to second straight Stanley Cup title
Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) takes a break during the first period of Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) ice hockey By ALANIS THAMES The loudest cheers among Florida Panthers fans at Amerant Bank Arena are always for Sergei Bobrovsky. Pregame warmups. Jumbotron appearances. Each and every save. Florida fans know how important the veteran goaltender is to their team. So do the Panthers. It's why Florida never appeared rattled during its third straight Stanley Cup Final run. The defending champion Panthers remained even-keeled, never looking too far ahead, and certainly not harping on the past — mirroring the attitude of their unflappable, two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender. And Bobrovsky has rewarded their trust in him with a brilliant showing in this year's playoffs, which he stamped with a 28-save effort Tuesday in Florida's 5-1 romp over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 to win their second straight title. He stopped 192 of 209 shots on goal in the final and allowed 17 goals. He nearly had his fourth shutout of the postseason before Vasily Podkolzin broke up that bid with the Oilers' only goal Tuesday with just 4:39 left. With Tuesday's win, Bobrovsky moved to 13-8 in 22 series-clinching games in his career, tying Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy (13-9) for the most among active goaltenders. He was even more dominant than last year's title run, when he was again a key piece in Florida's success with a .906 save percentage. Ask Florida's veteran goaltender what he thinks of his success and he will likely sum it up in a few words. He'll express his gratitude and talk about how great it is to play the game he loves. Then he will deflect the attention to his teammates. That's who he's been since he took the starting job three games into the first round in 2023 and what the Panthers have come to appreciate about him. He's been the calming presence in their locker room amid all kinds of chaos during this dominant three-year run. His focus is always on what it takes to win and his credit always goes to the ones around him. That simple approach has worked for him. Going back to the 2023 playoffs, no goalie has more wins, saves or shutouts than Bobrovsky. He's the second-oldest goaltender in the last decade with a playoff shutout. Entering Tuesday, only three other goalies since 1981-82 had won the Vezina Trophy twice and hoisted the Stanley Cup trophy multiple times. Bobrovsky joined that group on Tuesday. The others? They're all Hall of Famers. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Times
18-06-2025
- Japan Times
Sam Reinhart scores four as Panthers beat Oilers to retain Stanley Cup
Sam Reinhart scored four goals to help the Florida Panthers clinch their second straight Stanley Cup title with a 5-1 victory against the visiting Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 on Tuesday night in Sunrise, Florida. Reinhart scored on all four shots he took to become the first player with four goals in a Stanley Cup Final game since 1957. He finished with seven goals in the last four games of the series. Matthew Tkachuk also scored for the Panthers, who are the third team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions in the past 10 years. Sergei Bobrovsky came within 4:42 of his fourth shutout of the 2025 playoffs before Vasily Podkolzin scored for the Oilers. Bobrovsky finished with 28 saves. Stuart Skinner made 20 saves for the Oilers, who also lost to the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final last season. A team from Canada has not won the Cup since 1993. The Panthers scored the first goal for the fifth straight game. Edmonton was outshooting Florida 5-0 when Reinhart stole the puck from defenseman Evan Bouchard at his own blue line. He then juked past Mattias Ekholm at the top of the right circle before scoring over Skinner's glove for a 1-0 lead at 4:36. The Panthers added to their lead in the final minute of the opening period. Eetu Luostarinen pulled up above the right circle in the Edmonton zone off a rush and waited for Tkachuk, who had just jumped onto the ice. After receiving Luostarinen's pass, Tkachuk brought the puck to the high slot before hitting the top right corner of the net with a wrist shot, giving Florida a 2-0 lead with 47 seconds left in the period. Florida outscored the Oilers 13-4 in the opening period during the series. Florida made it 3-0 at 17:31 of the second. Carter Verhaeghe took a wrist shot from along the boards and above the right circle that hit Skinner in the chest. The rebound came out diagonally to Aleksander Barkov cutting through the left circle, and his feed to Reinhart cutting to the opposite post went off his left skate blade and into the Edmonton net. The Oilers pulled Skinner with about seven minutes left and Reinhart scored into the empty net for a 4-0 lead with 6:24 remaining, giving him the first playoff hat trick in Panthers history. He wasn't finished, as Edmonton pulled Skinner again and Reinhart scored into the empty net to make it 5-0 with 5:05 left.
