DETROIT – Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 21 shots he faced to backstop the Florida Panthers to a 4-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.
Improving to 41-16-4, the Panthers, who sit atop the Atlantic Division, have won 14 of their last 16 games.
“It’s a good opponent,” said Bobrovsky, who picked up his 30th win and fourth shutout of the campaign. “It was a great fight, great battle. It’s a big win.”
Despite the fact the Red Wings entered tonight’s matchup with the fourth-ranked offense in the NHL, the Panthers held them without a goal for the second time in three meetings this season.
Given the talent on both sides, there was also somewhat of a playoff-like feel on the ice this afternoon.
“It was more physical than our previous games,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “It was closer to the Carolina game in terms of the energy we had to spend to win that game. I’ve liked both of them. They’re fun to play in. There’s something on the line.”
What the first period lacked in goals, it made up for in physicality. While neither team managed to touch the twine, they combined for 29 total hits after 20 minutes. Eighteen of those hits belonged to the Panthers, who had 11 different skaters register at least one.
Early in the period, the Red Wings thought they’d opened the scoring, but the goal was quickly waved off due to Michael Rasmussen clearly interfering with Bobrovsky.
After two big penalty kills early in the second period, the Panthers opened the scoring when Brandon Montour cashed in on a rebound in the slot to make it 1-0 at 8:50. Carrying a hot stick, Montour has registered 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his last seven games.