Sergei Bobrovsky needs to be better if Panthers are going to beat Leafs

Through the first two games of the second-round series versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky has struggled, posting an .820 save percentage.

On Thursday, former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton joined Daily Faceoff LIVE to discuss Bobrovsky’s play through the first two games and highlight areas of his game that need to be better.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s start in Toronto where the Leafs are up two games and have nine goals on Bobrovsky. There’s a lot of talk about them just shooting high and pucks going in. Have they figured out something on Bobrovsky?

Carter Hutton: I don’t know if they have figured it out, but they are getting it done. They are getting to the net. I think this is the preparation of the season that went into it. We watched this Leafs team re-immerse their game throughout the year with Craig Berube. We saw that run-and-gun offense for so many years with Sheldon Keefe. I think Berube came in and got this team playing direct, playing in uncomfortable situations. It’s not like the book is out on Bobrovsky. I just don’t think he has been as good as he needs to be. I expect him to be better in this series. That being said, I don’t think anyone expected the Leafs to win Games 1 and 2, where most thought it would be them looking for a split, being the underdogs going in. Bobrovsky is going to have to be better because Florida was the better team when you talk about analytics. For me, I go to Joseph Woll, who had a big-time save late in the game. This is something for me where fighting through that screen is something you see a little bit better from Bobrovsky. He made himself small and you’ve got to get across on that one, and that was 17 seconds after Florida just tied the game. That was a crucial moment in that game. Those are the things that can swing a series and definitely swing a game here for the Panthers.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: