SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky might have had the save of the year.
The Panthers’ goaltender was facing the other way when Tampa Bay’s Matt Dumba had a chance at what looked like it would be an easy goal in Game 2 of the teams’ NHL playoff series on Tuesday night.
Dumba had nothing but net to shoot at — and Bobrovsky, without his stick and diving blindly at a puck he couldn’t see — somehow made the save.
How it all developed: Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli skated down the slot with the puck and wound up sending it off the end boards, the rebound getting controlled by Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Bobrovsky slid over to face Stamkos, who was to the left of the Florida goalie.
Stamkos slid the puck into open ice across the slot to Dumba, who one-timed a backhander toward the net. Bobrovsky’s back was to Dumba, meaning he had no chance but to throw his body across the goal mouth.
Bobrovsky dove with his left hand, his glove hand, extended — and his wrist got into the puck’s way, preserving what was a 2-2 tie as many on the Florida bench threw their hands into the air to celebrate.
“Honestly, I didn’t even see it,” Panthers center Anton Lundell told Bally Sports Florida in a between-periods interview. “I just heard the crowd go crazy. It was a huge save.”
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
