Friday Four: Panthers’ Bobrovsky as clutch as it gets

The Friday Four is a collection of thoughts and information on some intriguing player storylines from around the NHL. On deck this week is:

· Bobrovsky has found his game
· Nurse puts last year’s tough post-season behind him
· Svechnikov supplying the offence Hurricanes have been searching for
· Heiskanen’s return could make Stars team to beat

Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida Panthers

Somewhere in the middle of Game 3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sergei Bobrovsky flipped a switch and said no more.

Bobrovsky wasn’t very good in the first two games of this series, but since John Tavares’ power-play goal early in the second period of that Game 3, all Bobrovsky has allowed is a Morgan Rielly goal that took a weird bounce off a defender and a Nick Robertson garbage-time tally in Game 5. That’s in a stretch of close to 160 minutes. The fact that the Panthers found their game and swagger as Bobrovsky went into lockdown mode is no coincidence.

Blips like Bobrovsky had early in the series against the Leafs have been so few and far between. He’s building a great resume for the Hall of Fame with two Vezina Trophies, and if he plays another couple of seasons, there’s a decent chance Bobrovsky can work himself into the top five all-time in wins. But it’s probably time to have a conversation about his place on the all-time clutch goaltender list. He’s likely not on the Mount Rushmore right now, but Bobrovsky is making a real push to be included because of his playoff exploits.

Looking at the big picture, Bobrovsky’s numbers in the post-season don’t necessarily stand out among the all-time greats. He currently sits 22nd in playoff wins, more than 60 behind Martin Brodeur and close to 100 behind Patrick Roy. His five shutouts match peers like Ben Bishop and Petr Mrazek. To see Bobrovsky’s greatness, you have to look a little deeper.

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For starters, Bobrovsky has done his most impressive work at an age when most goalies are just fighting to stay in the league. He’ll turn 37 in September and is coming off a Stanley Cup and back-to-back finals appearances, with another one still in play this year. That’s a ton of extra hockey for someone his age and he isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, Bobrovsky ranks fifth all-time in playoff wins after age 30 with 47.

Bobrovsky has also been able to elevate his game as the series gets deeper and the pressure builds. Since joining the Panthers, he owns a .903 save percentage in Games 1-4, but in Games 5-7, that number jumps to .913. He also has a sparkling overtime record, going 10-2 in the extra frame since the start of the 2022-23 post-season. That includes a 7-0 mark in overtime games during Florida’s run to the final two years ago.

Let’s not forget Bobrovsky was the backbone of two of the biggest upsets in playoff history, too. He backstopped the Panthers to a rally from 3-1 down against Boston two post-seasons ago when the Bruins finished with 135 points and a Presidents’ Trophy. The Panthers were 43 points behind the Bruins in the standings that season and that comeback morphed Florida from a fringe playoff team to a juggernaut.

Then there was that unforgettable sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning when Bobrovsky was still with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2018-19. Again, the Lightning were the Presidents’ Trophy winners with 128 points and a plus-103 goal differential, but Bobrovsky stifled Tampa’s high-octane offence and allowed just eight goals in the entire series.

Following that series, Bobrovsky signed a seven-year, $70-million contract with the Panthers, something that many people scoffed at. Paying a goalie that much with that much term is rare, and even rarer at the age of 31, which Bobrovsky was at the time. It was logical to think the deal wouldn’t age well, but the back half has been better than the first half of the contract as Bobrovsky has been a major catalyst for what could be three straight deep playoff runs.

One of the most important things a goaltender needs is the trust of his teammates and it’s clear Bobrovsky has earned that.

“We trust in ‘Bob’ like you wouldn’t believe,” defenceman Aaron Ekblad told reporters after Game 5. “It’s unwavering as a team and we’re proud every night to play in front of that guy because he’s going to give his best effort and put his best foot forward every night. There’s no worries when you’ve got Bob behind you.”

That trust is important for Florida, both psychologically and practically. Teams always need to have faith that their goaltender is going to make a save, but for the Panthers, it’s a critical aspect of how they want to play as a team. Their relentless forecheck can sometimes leave them vulnerable to rush chances off the counterattack, as Florida forwards and defencemen often aggressively push forward to hem the opposition in their own zone. In fact, the Panthers are one of the worst teams in breakaways allowed, but they trust Bobrovsky to bail them.

It’s a perfect marriage between goaltender and team.

Darnell Nurse, Edmonton Oilers

One of the biggest question marks surrounding the Edmonton Oilers heading into the post-season was how they would hold up without Mattias Ekholm.

Losing a top defensive defenceman just before playoffs isn’t ideal for any team, to say the least, but for the Oilers, it was especially concerning. Edmonton doesn’t exactly have top-notch goaltending and veteran Darnell Nurse, who is being counted on to fill Ekholm’s minutes, really struggled in the playoffs last spring. To his credit, though, Nurse has performed admirably for Edmonton and he’s starting to put some of the issues he had a year ago behind him.

The Oilers were forced to pair Nurse and Evan Bouchard together with Ekholm out, so Nurse has to carry the load defensively since Bouchard is an offensive-first player. It hasn’t been perfect and Nurse has had a couple of tough games so far, but overall, the good has outweighed the bad. Nurse boasts an even rating after finishing at minus-9 during last year’s run to the Stanley Cup Final and he’s also doing more heavy lifting with Ekholm out. The veteran is averaging just under 25 minutes per game in the playoffs so far, which is almost three more minutes than he averaged in the regular season.

Nurse is chipping in offensively, too. He only scored five goals this season but already has a pair in 10 playoff games, while averaging more than two shots per game. He also assisted on the overtime winner that knocked Vegas out Wednesday night. It’s not a massive contribution, but considering the Oilers have struggled to get secondary scoring in the past, they’ll take anything that takes a little pressure off Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

With all that said, perhaps the biggest impact Nurse is making is when it comes to Bouchard. There was some concern about how effective Bouchard could be without Ekholm next to him but Nurse’s strong play is unlocking something in Bouchard’s game. Nine of Bouchard’s 12 points have come at even strength and he ranked second in the playoffs in minutes played heading into Thursday night. He’s still been a huge catalyst for the Oilers’ offence despite not having a security blanket like Ekholm.

The deeper Edmonton goes in these playoffs the possibility of Ekholm’s return increases. In the meantime, Nurse has been a huge asset, helping to stabilize the Oilers’ defence corps and ensuring the team is still getting the most out of Bouchard. That’s all you can ask for from Nurse.

Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes clearly felt there was something missing from their lineup this season.

They swung a blockbuster deal to acquire Mikko Rantanen in January, who is the kind of elite talent that is rare to find in the NHL. Things didn’t go as planned, though, as Rantanen wasn’t willing to commit to the Hurricanes long term and was quickly flipped again at the deadline. Carolina received Logan Stankoven from the Dallas Stars in return, and while he’s a promising young talent, he isn’t yet able to be a true difference-maker at this point in his career.

That meant Carolina would have to look internally this spring to find a surge in scoring. A lack of offence is something that’s held them back in the past, as they’ve managed to advance past the first round in every season since 2018-19 but haven’t been able to get past the Conference Final. That’s why Andrei Svechnikov’s performance so far has been massive for the Hurricanes and a big reason for why they might be able to get over the hump.

Svechnikov has eight goals already in these playoffs, second only to Rantanen. It’s been a pleasant surprise for Carolina, as Svechnikov has never scored more than four goals in any other post-season run, and he had only recorded eight combined in his past three playoff appearances. Svechnikov also missed all of the 2022-23 playoffs due to injury, something that the 25-year-old has battled throughout his career.

The Hurricanes winger played all 82 games as a rookie but has struggled to stay healthy since, playing in only one full campaign (78 games) since the 2018-19 season. This year was just the third time in his seven year career that he topped 70 games played. While he played in more games, it was a disappointing season offensively for Svechnikov overall as he only scored 20 goals and 48 points in 72 games, falling below expectations for the talent he possesses. Svechnikov has so much ability, but injuries and inconsistencies have always gotten in the way.

That said, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that Svechnikov is having playoff success. Svechnikov brings a different blend of physicality and high-end skill that no one else in the Hurricanes’ lineup possesses, and he gives the opposition a different element to deal with.

I’m sure Carolina fans will be happy to forget all the injuries and underwhelming stretches from Svechnikov if he continues to produce the way he has through a deep playoff run. The elite offensive talent the Hurricanes have been looking for may have been right under their nose all along.

Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars

The Stars are on the verge of the Western Conference Final and Miro Heiskanen hasn’t even shaken off the rust yet.

Heiskanen made his long-awaited return Tuesday night, picking up an assist on the power play and posting one shot on goal. Dallas is clearly working Heiskanen in slowly, playing him just 14:52 against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday and then 18:33 Thursday after he last appeared in a game in late January. He’s only going to become more impactful as his minutes ramp up moving forward.

The Stars impressively dispatched the Colorado Avalanche in Round 1 without Heiskanen and Jason Robertson. Dallas is arguably the deepest team in the league and it’s showing, as there aren’t many squads that could thrive, let alone survive, missing two key players. Now with Heiskanen’s return, the Stars have more flexibility to deploy their defencemen in more favourable positions. The Stars ended up going with 11 forwards and seven defencemen against the Jets in their Game 4 win to ease Heiskanen in, a luxury they now have with a deep blue line.

One silver lining to Heiskanen’s injury is that it allowed Thomas Harley to fully emerge as a stud blueliner. Dallas now has a pair of defencemen that can quarterback a power play, take on heavy minutes and play in just about every situation. That’s going to serve them well if they get through and face the Oilers in a Round 3 rematch. It would’ve been hard to imagine the Stars slowing down Draisaitl and McDavid without Heiskanen. Now that the Stars are in the rare position of actually getting healthier at this time of year, the sky’s the limit for them.

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