One of the biggest questions hovering over the Columbus Blue Jackets heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs was about Sergei Bobrovsky, and whether the goaltender could shake off his ghosts of playoffs past.
Early on in Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday night, it looked like the answer was a resounding “No.”
Twenty minutes and 13 shots was all Tampa needed to take a commanding 3-0 lead that suggested Bobrovsky’s history of post-season struggles might already be haunting him.
Though the first marker, a shorthanded breakaway beauty from Alex Killorn, shouldn’t be held against him the same cannot be said for the two goals that followed: a bad rebound served up to Anthony Cirelli, followed by a deflected shot he couldn’t get a glove on.
Things were looking really bad for the Blue Jackets. But then, suddenly, things changed.
Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella put Bobrovsky back in the blue paint to start the second period, and the decision turned out to be the most important one of the game. Bobrovsky bookended a perfect second period with a pair of massive saves against Steven Stamkos, clearly shedding his first-period woes, and shut the door entirely through the rest of the game. His 17 straight saves — many of them show-stoppers — were the backbone to what turned out to be an incredible comeback victory for Columbus, which scored four unanswered goals to claim the 4-3 Game 1 win.
“The guys did a great job in front of me, they turned the game around,” Bobrovsky told reporters after the game, stressing the importance of staying in the moment in periods two and three.
“We knew that we have to be better,” he said of the team’s mindset after the first period. “We just have to calm ourselves down a little bit, take a breath and get back to work.”
"They exist. They exist!"@HockeyGods pic.twitter.com/ldjLq7MLfA
— x-Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 11, 2019
“People can criticize him … we don’t have a chance if he doesn’t play the way he plays that last 40,” Tortorella said during his post-game media availability.
All told, Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 29 shots Wednesday night. Though Wednesday’s rallying effort was certainly remarkable, it’s obviously not a habit the Blue Jackets can get into — especially against a powerhouse team like Tampa Bay, who will surely take away plenty of lessons from this one.
Though Game 1 will go a long way in instilling confidence in both the goaltender and his team, Bobrovsky’s overall post-season numbers — a .898 save percentage and 3.37 goals against average heading into Wednesday’s game — are, of course, still concerning. In 17 playoff games with Columbus over their past three trips with him in the crease, Bobrovsky had never let in fewer than three goals. The first period of Game No. 18 against Tampa followed that pattern.
There’s no doubt the 30-year-old has the ability to steal games — we’ve seen him do it on several occasions in the regular season, and he did exactly that Wednesday night. He’s a major reason why the Blue Jackets are now playing in their third straight playoffs, and should they steal a few more wins against the Stanley Cup favourites, he’ll be the reason for that, too.
Game 2 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
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