The Florida Panthers earned a huge 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night as the race to win the Atlantic Division heats up — and Sergei Bobrovsky was a huge reason why.
The Russian netminder turned aside 23 of 25 shots thrown his way at Scotiabank Arena, and he took sole possession of 10th place on the NHL’s all-time wins list with victory No. 424 in the process. Bobrovsky overtook Tony Esposito, and is now just 13 wins back of Jacques Plante, who sits in ninth place, per NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy.
Bobrovsky won 42 games with the Philadelphia Flyers, 213 as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and now has 169 victories with the Panthers after joining the team as an unrestricted free agent back in 2019.
The rest of the list — from first to eighth — looks like: Martin Brodeur (691 wins), Marc-Andre Fleury (573), Patrick Roy (551), Roberto Luongo (489), Ed Belfour (484), Henrik Lundqvist (459), Curtis Joseph (454) and Terry Sawchuk (445).
The two-time Vezina Trophy winner became the fastest goaltender to reach 400 wins back in October, accomplishing the feat in just 707 contests — 20 fewer than previous record holder and New York Rangers legend Lundqvist.
“It’s easy to say because we won the game but at 3-1, you’re thinking he’s not going to let in the 3-2 goal, and then you’re thinking you’re going to have a hard time beating him now because now he’s angry in the net,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of Bobrovsky afterwards, per McCarthy.
“He just totally fits our team, he’s so calm in that net… There’s a calm with him in the net for us.”
The 36-year-old has been great again in 2024-25, managing a 28-14-2 record along with a .907 save percentage and 2.49 goals-against average. After winning his first Stanley Cup last June, he’s a huge part of another powerhouse Panthers team.
Panthers still at the top of the Atlantic Division
After beating the Leafs on the road, the Panthers have improved to 41-22-3 and have a four-point cushion on Toronto, who has a game in hand. Florida is also six points up on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The team has been excellent as of late, winning seven of their last eight games dating back to February 25. Although the Leafs and Bolts continue to play well, the Panthers are looking well-positioned to win the Atlantic Division for the second straight season.
Sam Bennett led the way offensively for Florida on Thursday night, scoring two powerplay goals. Sam Reinhart assisted on both of the tallies, while Niko Mikkola also scored.
After winning the franchise’s inaugural Stanley Cup, the Panthers are again looking like one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference. Even without the services of Matthew Tkachuk, they just continue to win games prolifically in 2024-25.
Adding Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks ahead of the trade deadline was also a savvy move by general manager Bill Zito. With 16 games left in their regular-season, the Panthers will look to keep the good times rolling against the Canadiens in Montreal on Saturday night.
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