Bobrovsky pulled as Panthers fail to clinch Cup
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
EDMONTON, Alberta — Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final after the Edmonton Oilers scored five times against him.
Bobrovsky was sent to the bench 4:59 into the second period after Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse beat him clearly for Edmonton’s fifth goal, making it 5-1. Backup goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who hurriedly made his first career playoff appearance, also struggled, allowing three goals in Saturday’s 8-1 loss.
The Panthers entered Game 4 up 3-0 in the series, and now have a chance to raise the Stanley Cup on home ice Tuesday night in Sunrise, Florida.
Bobrovsky gave up the five goals on 16 shots by the Oilers. He had given up four goals in the previous three games of the Final.
The Florida goaltender entered Game 4 with a .953 save percentage, having been an outstanding last line of defense when the Panthers would make a miscue. But he couldn’t bail them out in this game, as it was Florida’s mistakes that ended up in the back of the net.
Mattias Janmark scored at 3:11 of the first period on an odd-man rush short-handed. Adam Henrique tipped a Janmark pass past Bobrovsky for a 2-0 lead at 7:48. After Vladimir Tarasenko cut the lead to 2-1, Edmonton forward Dylan Holloway beat Bobrovsky to the glove side on a perfect feed from center Leon Draisaitl — his first point of the series — at 14:48 of the first period to make it 3-1.
Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the series and sixth of the playoffs 1:13 into the second period. Nurse finally chased Bobrovsky with his first goal of the playoffs on a clean look from the slot.
At 24:53 of ice time, this was the second-shortest start of Bobrovsky’s playoff career. His previous low mark for ice time was in 2011 when he gave up three goals on seven shots for the Philadelphia Flyers in his second career playoff start.
Before Game 4, the Oilers were confident they could rally while facing elimination.
“We have a strong belief in our group,” forward Zach Hyman said. “People have counted us out the entire year, and the odds say that we won’t win, right? That’s what the all the statistics and the odds say, but the odds said that we weren’t going to make the playoffs at American Thanksgiving, and multiple times in these playoffs we’ve been down. I think we play our best when our backs are against the wall and facing elimination. We’re just thinking about winning one game.”
New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton will miss the remainder of the regular season and “possibly” the playoffs due to a lower-body injury, general manager Tom Fitzgerald said.
When pressed if Hamilton could return if the Devils reach the second round of the postseason, Fitzgerald wasn’t too optimistic on Wednesday.
“We’re not planning on it, how’s that?” Fitzgerald said during an appearance on the “Krackin’ Canuckleheads” podcast.
Hamilton has been sidelined since he was tangled up with Stars forward Mason Marchment in the first period of a 4-3 loss to Dallas on March 4.
Hamilton, 31, has 40 points (nine goals, 31 assists) in 63 games this season. He is competing in the fourth campaign of his seven-year, $63 million contract.
Hamilton has totaled 501 points (151 goals, 350 assists) in 834 career games with the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes and Devils.
Hamilton was selected by the Bruins with the ninth overall pick of the 2011 NHL draft.
Rafael Devers told reporters Thursday that he’s “good to do whatever” the Boston Red Sox want him to do, an indication that he’s willing to move away from third base and serve as the team’s designated hitter this season.
A switch of roles didn’t seem likely last month, when Devers balked at the idea at moving to DH in the wake of Boston signing Alex Bregman.
“Third base is my position,” Devers said then.
But the three-time All-Star said Thursday that he spoke with manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow a few weeks ago and told them “I’m good to do whatever they want me to do.
“I’m here to help,” he said through his interpreter, according to The Athletic. “I’ve already spoken with them about that and they know where I stand, but I’m just ready to play.
“I’m not going to share what we talked about here just because it would make me come off … those are private conversations. So I told them everything of my point of view, how I see things, and they know that.”
Devers has yet to appear in an official spring training game for Boston. It was supposed to happen Tuesday but got pushed back to this weekend. He battled soreness in both of his shoulders last season and spent the first couple of weeks of spring training trying to strengthen them ahead of the regular season.
He did play in an intrasquad game Thursday in Fort Myers, Florida, before he spoke with the media, and had a home run off new Red Sox starter Walker Buehler.
Asked if he expects to be ready for Opening Day against the Rangers on March 27 in Texas, Devers said: “I expect to be there.”
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