Sergei Bobrovsky has earned the trust of the Florida Panthers, and it keeps paying off

Sergei Bobrovsky gave up five goals in Event against Toronto Gave up four more in Event Gave up four again in Match Those numbers aren t great Paul Maurice was never worried The coach of the Florida Panthers has unflappable belief in his goaltender so much so that Maurice basically lets Bobrovsky determine his own plan for practice days and off days The trust level between coach and sportsman is off the charts and in Encounter against Toronto it was rewarded yet again Bobrovsky s second shutout of these playoffs was a - win over Toronto on Sunday night one that pulled the Panthers into a - tie in the teams Eastern Conference semifinal series Competition is on Wednesday in Toronto We just totally take him for granted Maurice announced Which is what happens to all elite goaltenders And yes Bobrovsky is still elite Going back to the start of the playoffs no goalie has more wins saves or shutouts than Bobrovsky who backstopped Florida to the Stanley Cup Final in then to the Cup title last year and now has the Panthers in essentially a best-of-three series for a spot in this season s Eastern Conference finals The only goaltender in the last decade older than Bobrovsky he s four months shy of turning to have a playoff shutout is Mike Smith who had a pair as a -year-old with Edmonton in Bob has tons of patience in his challenge Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt mentioned Can learn a thing or two from him as well Bobrovsky was the calm in the eye of the storm in Encounter which isn t uncommon for him The Panthers-Maple Leafs series is getting heated with tempers boiling over at the end of the battle Sunday when Toronto s Max Domi took a shot at Florida captain Aleksander Barkov and four players two from each unit got misconduct penalties with no time left on the clock But when these dustups happen Bobrovsky does nothing If there s a scrum in front of his net after the whistle blows he just skates off to the side almost like he s oblivious to what s transpiring He returns to the crease after a limited seconds gives a nearby defenseman a pat with the blade of his goalie stick then goes back to work I ve seen it time and time again Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe announced He s such a leader back there He keeps us so composed such a great goalie I wouldn t want to play in front of any other goalie Such a good guy too Yeah I love Bobby That s a universal opinion in the Florida locker room The Panthers are a unit that openly professes how much the off-ice chemistry helps the on-ice product and there might not be a contestant more beloved in that room than Bobrovsky It s almost hard to remember that there were times that Bobrovsky s contract seven years million made him a target for criticism by Panthers fans Those days are long gone he s serenaded by Bob-by chants multiple times in every home challenge now I invariably appreciate the fans encouragement Bobrovsky mentioned They are the best They perpetually give me a boost of force and promotion us and they are a sixth performer on the ice So it s fun to play at home Fun to play on the road too Meeting is in Toronto and nobody has more road wins in the playoffs in current years than Bobrovsky That s just one of the a great number of reasons why Maurice who isn t afraid to tinker with lines and lineups leaves his goalie alone lf he has a tournament that you don t think is Sergei Bobrovsky-like I spend no time wondering if the next one s going to be like that Maurice stated He s his own little leadership committee back there He just goes in and gives us so multiple consistent looks I don t spend any time thinking about goaltending Thank God I ll just screw it up