Sergei Bobrovsky needs no introduction. The Vezina Trophy winner was a force to reckon with in front of the net last year when the Panthers won the Stanley Cup, and he hasn’t lost a beat. “On the ice, you can see how quiet in the net he is. He’s not panicking,” said backup goalie Vitek Vanecek, who joined the Panthers just days before the 2025 NHL trade deadline.

It’s this quality that’s helped Bobrovsky continue to shine as one of the most consistent goaltenders in the NHL. This year, Bobrovsky is sporting a 15-7 win-loss record after 22 playoff games. Last year, he won 16 and lost 8 in 24. If that isn’t consistency, then what is? And it’s this consistently calm performance, under pressure, that coach Paul Maurice hailed after Game 5.

“I thought Sergei, in the first 10 minutes, got tested hard. I thought that they came out right, and fast. Got through the neutral zone on us a couple of times,” said the Florida Panthers coach. The Oilers indeed tried to blitz their way to a lead early in the game, as chasing the Panthers is never a good idea. So during those first 10 minutes, it was Sergei Bobrovsky’s show.

The Cats’ goaltender made some crucial saves as Oilers stars like Connor Brown and Connor McDavid managed to fire off dangerous shots after beating the defense. “He had to make a couple of big saves,” Paul Maurice told the press. “When you’re on the road, if you can keep the building from lighting up in the first 10 minutes, that’s just a big part of the emotions,” the coach added.

“I thought that his performance, especially the early game, was key,” stated the Florida Panthers coach, and he couldn’t be more right. Sergei Bobrovsky kept the Panthers in the game before goal scorers Bob Marchand, Sam Bennet, and the rest could do their thing. And it’s far from the only time the 36-year-old has done something like this. In the 6-1 victory in Game 3, Bobrovsky made 32 saves on the 33 shots he faced, letting in only Corey Perry’s goal. That being said, the goalie situation is dire with the Oilers.

Sergei Bobrovsky’s Oilers counterpart had a bad day

After Stuart Skinner’s disastrous start led to the Oilers falling behind 0-3 in the first period of Game 3, coach Kris Knoblauch pulled Skinner for Calvin Pickard. On the ice, the other Edmonton Oilers goalie played a big role in helping the Oilers forge their epic comeback win. The goalie saved 22 out of 23 shots and made 17 straight saves to keep the Oilers alive in Game 4.

So this time, coach Kris Knoblauch chose Pickard to start instead of Stuart Skinner. However, Pickard’s great performance in the last game wasn’t the only reason why the Oilers’ coach chose him to start. The 33-year-old goalie was 6-0 in the playoffs before Game 4. Yet, unlike Sergei Bobrovsky, the NHL goalie had a rough day in front of the goal against the Panthers.

The Panthers had scored at least 2 goals in the opening 20 minutes of the first four games of the series. All of them had Skinner guarding the goal for the Oilers. But with Pickard, too, it was no different. Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett got on the scoresheet at 9:12 and 18:06, with the former clinching yet another record. And while he didn’t concede any goals in the second period, he let in two more in the third (the Panthers’ fifth was an open netter). That being said, it would not be fair to hold either Oilers goalie responsible for the situation the team finds itself in.

The defending champions have outscored the Oilers 11-4 during the first periods across the five games of the series. In fact, Connor McDavid had nothing to show for his 17 shots in the first four games of the series until he scored one in Game 5 to cut the Panthers’ lead to 3-1. So it’s more of a team-wide problem than just a goalie problem, and Kris Knoblauch will need to address that sooner than later.