Are the Florida Panthers thinking about making a goaltending change in Game 7 of their Stanley Cup Final series against the Edmonton Oilers?
The thought that Panthers’ head coach Paul Maurice would make such a dramatic change in such a high-stakes game seems unfathomable, but goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was not on the ice for them at practice this morning.
Instead, Florida was running with Anthony Stolarz and Spencer Knight between the pipes, which is very unusual on the eve of such a big game. Bobrovsky is usually the first player on the ice for these types of skates.
NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti shared this development on social media.
Oddly, Sergei Bobrovsky is not one of the two goalies warming up before the Panthers’ practice, scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
Anthony Stolarz and Spencer Knight are out there.
Bobrovsky is usually the first one on the ice, well before this, on a practice day.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) June 23, 2024
A goalie change for the Panthers still seems unlikely, unless there is a previously-unknown injury plaguing the 35-year-old Russian netminder. Bobrovsky has struggled in the back half of this series, allowing 12 goals and posting a .785 save percentage over the last three games, but showed early in the series that he can steal games.
Stolarz got a little taste of action in this series when he came on in relief of Bobrovsky in Game 4, but the Oilers managed to score three times on 19 shots on him. If Bobrovsky isn’t the guy between the pipes for Florida, Stolarz wouldn’t exactly be an encouraging option.
Of course, the Panthers could also start Knight for Game 7, but that brings about a whole new set of risks. Knight hasn’t played in a single NHL game this season and throwing him into a do-or-die Stanley Cup Final game would be a shocking move.
The most likely scenario is that Bobrovsky is taking a day off to rest and recoup for tomorrow’s big game. The Oilers have found plenty of ways to beat him over the last three games and the veteran goaltender is probably taking some extra time to prepare for Game 7.
We’ll see what the Panthers decide to do.