Bobrovsky stars Panthers shut out Avalanche

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves in his third shutout of the season, and the Florida Panthers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 on Saturday night.

Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Eetu Luostarinen and Aleksander Barkov scored for the Panthers, who won for the sixth time in seven games. Matthew Tkachuk had two assists.

Bobrovsky was showered with chants of “Bobby! Bobby!” by the Amerant Bank Arena crowd toward the end of the game.

“It’s definitely a great feeling,” Bobrovsky said. “I appreciate the support, I appreciate the cheering because it’s great for me. But I thought the team made me a star.”

Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon departed after landing headfirst on the ice with 11:18 to go. He was held off the scoresheet for the third straight game after going pointless in just one game since Nov. 18.

Coach Jared Bednar did not provide an update on MacKinnon's status following the game.

“I haven't talked to the trainer yet, but you saw the play,” Bednar said. “He hit his chin on the ice and it got cut open a little bit. He went in for some work but we haven't got an update.”

Alexandar Georgiev made 39 saves for the Avalanche in their fourth straight loss.

Barkov scored his first goal since Dec. 16, snapping an 18-game drought. He notched 19 assists in that span, and then added two more on Saturday night.

“It feels good,” Barkov said with a chuckle. “I mean, it's been a while, but it's all about working hard and trying to shoot the puck. We have a great team here and it doesn't matter who scores the goals. As long as we win and as long we play the right way. And, obviously, I'm happy to get one today.”

Reinhart scored his league-leading 22nd power-play goal of the season. Only four other active players have recorded as many in a full campaign: Alex Ovechkin (three times), Leon Draisaitl (32 in 2022-23), Chris Kreider (26 in 2021-22) and Steven Stamkos (24 in 2009-10).

Bobrovsky secured his 41st career shutout, which moved him ahead of New York Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov for the most by an active Russian-born goaltender. Only Evgeni Nabokov (59) and Nikolai Khabibulin (46) have more.

UP NEXT

Avalanche: Visit Washington on Tuesday night.

Panthers: Visit Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

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