Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 35: Bobrovsky’s 32-save shutout puts Panthers one win away from Stanley Cup Final

While they aren’t facing elimination, Game 3 felt like a do-or-die game for the Carolina Hurricanes. We all know the odds, teams down 3-0 rarely come back to win the series, so facing an 0-2 hole to the Florida Panthers on the road was going to make this a tough challenge for the Canes, especially with their scoring struggles. Unfortunately for them, those struggles continued, as the Panthers took that daunting 3-0 series lead after a 1-0 win in Game 3.

The Canes were certainly playing like a team close to the ropes, as they were all over the Panthers and generating a ton of chances, ending up with a 78.19% 5v5 expected goal share in the first. However, Sergei Bobrovsky was on his game, and the Canes just could not beat him, including this great save on Stefan Noesen.

Later in the period, Aleksander Barkov went to the dressing room, apparently with an injury. While no one knew for sure what caused it or what was the injury, this was a hit he took in his last shift, and he did not return for the rest of the game.

The Canes kept pushing for that first goal in the second period, particularly Sebastian Aho, who had at least five scoring chances himself through the first half of the game.

But, scoring chances don’t always guarantee goals, and unfortunately for the Canes, it was the Panthers that finally got on the board during their second power play of the game. Matthew Tkachuk set up Sam Reinhart in the slot, and Reinhart made no mistake to give the Panthers the 1-0 lead.

And as the Canes keep trying to get on the board, they just couldn’t buy a goal. Or Bobrovsky is just that good right now.

And when it was all said and done, they couldn’t. The Canes dominated play in the third, but Bobrovsky was just that good and they couldn’t beat him. It didn’t help their case either that they were hemmed in their own zone a few times late in the period, killing quite a bit of time to tie it.

With that, the Panthers walked away with a 1-0 win to take a 3-0 series lead, and are on the verge of their first Stanley Cup Final since 1996. The game was all Bobrovsky, as he stopped all 32 shots he faced to get his first career playoff shutout, and he has now stopped 67 consecutive shots going back to Jalen Chatfield’s first period goal in Game 2. It was needed for the win, as the Canes had all the pressure, outshooting the Panthers 32-17, and had a 73.56% 5v5 shot attempt share, a 76.68% 5v5 scoring chance share, and a 78.67% 5v5 expected goal share in the game.