Panthers One Win Away From Stanley Cup Final

Good morning and happy Tuesday, May 23rd.

58.33% of yesterday’s poll participants called the Panthers win. 🎉

Today’s lineup:

☝️ Florida take 3-0 series lead

🐧 Penguins granted permission to talk to Dubas

👇 And a lot more…

The Florida Panthers were the NHL’s lowest-seeded NHL playoff qualifier. But you certainly wouldn’t know that now.

The Panthers parlayed more exceptional goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky into a 1-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. That puts the Panthers just one win away from their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 27 years.

The 34-year-old Bobrovsky made 32 saves to become the oldest goalie to earn his first career playoff shutout since Boston’s Tim Thomas, 35, recorded his first postseason shutout in 2009.

Bobrovsky’s first shutout came in his 58th playoff game. No other goalie in NHL history has needed more games to earn that first playoff shutout.

The Hurricanes are clearly frustrated by Bobrovsky. His 132 saves are the most by a goalie in the first three games of a Conference Final/Semifinal Series. He surpassed Johnny Bower’s record of 125 saves (1960 semifinal vs. Detroit).

In this series, Bobrovsky has given up three goals in 13-plus periods of work. He has stopped the last 67 shots he has faced and 110 out of the last 111 (.990 save percentage), dating to Game 1.

Matthew Tkachuk continued his strong play. He assisted on Reinhart’s goal. Tkachuk has factored in all three GWG in this series.

The only negative of Monday night for the Panthers is that forward Aleksander Barkov left the game in the first period with a lower body injury. Panthers Coach Paul Maurice didn’t update his condition after the game.

Florida, leading 3-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Final, can wrap up the series with a home win Wednesday in Game 4. If the Panthers win that game, they become only the third lowest-seed playoff qualifier to reach the Stanley Cup Final. The others: Nashville Predators (2017) and Montreal Canadiens (2021).

🐧 Pittsburgh Penguins receive permission to talk to former Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas. The Penguins fired GM Ron Hextall and president Brian Burke in April after the team missed the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons. The Fenway Sports Group purchased the Penguins in late 2021 and look to make their first hiring to lead hockey operations. Last Friday, Maple Leafs president Brenden Shanahan announced that Dubas would not return as Leafs GM, after nine seasons with the organization. Dubas’ Leafs teams made the playoffs in each of his seasons as GM but only won one playoff series — against the Lightning this year — during his time at the helm.

Andrei Vasilevskiy is the most recent goaltender to win the Conn Smythe trophy, winning it in 2021. Who was the most recent goalie prior to Vasilevskiy to win the Conn Smythe trophy?

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TRIVIA ANSWER

Jonathan Quick captured the Conn Smythe trophy in 2012 and was the last goaltender to win the the trophy prior to Andrei Vasilevskiy.