“Our confidence is never wavering. We feel we’ve got the best goalie in the world back there,” Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said after the Toronto Maple Leafs went up 2-0 in the series. Unfortunately, recent statistics have revealed that Sergei Bobrovsky is certainly having some problems with his form. Despite starting off strong, the Vezina Trophy winner is yet to live up to his ‘Big Game Bob’ reputation.

That’s because after putting up a 1.000 save percentage in the shutout victory against Tampa, Bobrovsky has let in multiple goals. In fact, the issues started in the very next game when Tampa scored 5 goals against the Panthers’ goalie, dropping his SV% to .810. Unfortunately, that stat has only trended downward against the Maple Leafs after two games. How bad is it, you ask?

The Athletics’ James Mirtle had the answer. “Sergei Bobrovsky’s save percentage is down to .800 in this series, last among all goalies in the second round,” the senior hockey writer wrote about the Florida Panthers’ goalie on X. Such a lackluster performance from the Panthers goalie is quite unexpected, especially considering the last time he faced off against the Leafs attack.

Hockey insider Edna Garrett revealed exactly how much better the 36-year-old played the last time they faced off against the Leafs in the playoffs. “And he was the #1 reason in 23 anyone thought Panthers dominated the Leafs. Guy was a wall. He had .943% in that series,” revealed Garrett. In fact, Bobrovsky’s downturn looks puzzling in light of his historic 2024-25 regular season.

The Florida Panthers goaltender hit a historic milestone early in the 2024-25 NHL season. Bobrovsky became the fastest goalie to reach 400 wins in NHL history in October 2024. The milestone came when the 36-year-old made 24 saves to keep the New York Rangers at bay in his 707th league game. What’s more? The netminder also became the 14th goalie to reach 400 wins. Thankfully for the Panthers, Bobrovsky turned up when it mattered the most.

A glimpse of the Florida Panthers goalie’s brilliance

While the goaltender couldn’t really keep the furious Maple Leafs attack at bay during regulation time, he dialed it up a notch in overtime. The Leafs had scored 13 goals against Sergei Bobrovsky by the end of the third period of Game 3. The NHL star shut the door on the Leafs during OT. And it wasn’t for the Leafs’ lack of trying.

In fact, the Toronto Maple Leafs looked desperate to go 3-0 up in the series. However, ‘Big Game Bob’ showed up just when the Florida Panthers needed him most, making eight crucial saves. At least two of those saves turned out to be game-altering. The first one came when William Nylander took a shot at point-blank range. Another one came after Matthew Knies took his shot with 6:15 left in overtime.

Just two minutes later, Brad Marchand closed out the game and won it for the Panthers on the other end. Bobrovsky’s teammates sang praises of his solid overtime performance after the game. “He’s our best player every night… He’s amazing. We lean on him huge,” Florida winger Jonah Gadjovich said about Bobrovsky. The goaltender also seemed happy to help Florida reduce the series deficit.

“We’re going to enjoy this win tonight,” the Florida Panthers goalie told the media. “We’re going to reset, we’re going to refocus and then it’s back to work,” he added. Sergei Bobrovsky’s SV% also climbed to .871 in Game 3. Yet, the real challenge now will be to build on this momentum. After all, the way the Leafs are playing, the Panthers will need their netminder to show up big in Game 4.