Takeaways as Sergei Bobrovsky and power play lead Panthers’ shutout win over Avalanche

Sergei Bobrovsky heard the crowd all throughout the night. With each passing save, the chant inside Amerant Arena began to grow.

“Bob-by! Bob-by!”

And it was well deserved.

Another dominant performance in net from Bobrovsky and another dominant effort from the power play led the Florida Panthers to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.

The Panthers improve to 33-15-4 on the season, are 15-3-2 in their past 20 games and swept the two-game season series against Colorado, a legitimate contender in the Western Conference. The Avalanche fall to 32-17-4 and have lost four consecutive games since the All-Star Break.

The win started in net. Bobrovsky stopped all 35 shots that came his way against the top scoring team in the NHL (Colorado entered averaging 3.73 goals per game) to secure the shutout. Of the 35 shots he faced, 10 were listed as high-danger shots by the advanced hockey statistics website Natural Stat Trick.

“It’s definitely a great feeling,” Bobrovsky said. “I appreciate the support, I appreciate the cheering because it’s great for me, but I thought the team made me a star.”

The offense gave him more than enough of a cushion early with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart each scoring on the power play in the first period. It marked the 10th time this season the Panthers have scored multiple power play goals; seven of those have come over the past 20 games, during which the Panthers have scored on 34.2 percent of their opportunities on the man advantage.

Eetu Luostarinen scored his 10th goal of the season in the second period, and Aleksander Barkov scored in the third to cap scoring.

“The whole 60 minutes of the game was pretty solid,” Barkov said. “I think it was impressive when at the end, it was four to nothing and we’re still making the right plays. We didn’t try to open up or anything. We didn’t try to score the fifth goal; we didn’t try to cheat or anything so that was very impressive and obviously Bob was there for everything we needed him [for].”

Here are three takeaways from the game.

More on Sergei Bobrovsky

Bobrovsky’s shutout on Saturday was his third of the season, his eighth with the Panthers and the 41st of his career. He is now 25-10-2 on this season, with his 25 wins ranking third in the NHL.

In 14 starts since Dec. 23, Bobrovsky is 11-1-1 with a .920 save percentage (358 saves on 389 shots). He has given up two goals or fewer in nine of those games, including each of his past four.

“You try to stay with the moment, one shot at a time and see what’s going to happen,” Bobrovsky said. “I’m really happy. I thought the guys did a great job… they defended even in the offensive zone. They didn’t give much to be honest. It was a pleasure to play, and it was a great performance by our team.”

“I try to remind myself that it’s an NHL game - it’s the greatest hockey game you can see,” he added, “and I play for a great team, so I appreciate all of those things.”

Reinhart closing in on 40 goals

Reinhart’s power-play was his 39th goal overall this season and his 22nd on the power play. He is now one goal away from becoming the fourth player in franchise history with a 40-goal season.

The others: Pavel Bure (59 in 2000-01, 58 in 1999-2000), Verhaeghe (42 in 2022-23) and Matthew Tkachuk (40 in 2022-23).

There are 30 games left this season for him to get the goal.

Barkov was picking up points despite not scoring goals

It had been nearly two months since Barkov found the back of the net before finally cashing in during the third period on Saturday. The stretch of games went back to Dec. 18, a stretch of 18 games (with Barkov missing three games due to an unspecified lower-body injury).

The Panthers, though, weren’t too concerned, especially since Barkov was still making his presence known despite his lack of goals.

Barkov assisted on both of Florida’s power-play goals on Saturday before scoring in the third period and has 21 helpers overall in that 19-game stretch.

”We’re good,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after practice Friday. “Everybody’s happy. I don’t need Barkov scoring; I need the line outperforming the line they play against. I don’t care if it’s all going to be in Reinhart’s bucket. It’s good to be his agent.”

After his three-point performance Saturday, Barkov now has 52 points on the season. It’s Barkov’s ninth consecutive season with at least 50 points, tied with Olli Jokinen (2002-03 to 2011-12) for the second-most 50-point seasons by a Finnish-born player according to NHL Stats. Jari Kurri has the record with 10 (1980-81 to 1990-91).