Sergei Bobrovsky wins goalie duel as Panthers shut out Flames

Overshadowed throughout most of the game by the spectacular efforts of Calgary goalie Dan Vladar, Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky earned his third shutout of the season as the host Panthers defeated the Flames 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in Sunrise, Fla.

Vladar's 39 saves were 16 more than the 23 from Bobrovsky.

Jonah Gadjovich, Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich scored for the Panthers, who were missing star forward Matthew Tkachuk (lower-body injury) for the fourth straight game.

Sam Bennett added two assists for Florida, which outshot Calgary 16-6 in the first period and 19-6 in the second before cruising in the third.

Flames forward Ryan Lomberg, who helped the Panthers win the 2024 Stanley Cup, was honored with a video tribute early in Saturday's game.

After a scoreless first, Florida got on the board 4:47 into the second frame as Gadjovich batted the puck in on his third rebound attempt.

Florida nearly made it 2-0 with 11:38 left in the period as Sam Reinhart's shot from the right circle left a juicy rebound for Carter Verhaeghe. But Vladar reached to his right and made a diving save with his back to Verhaeghe.

With 3:56 remaining in the second, Vladar was at it again, robbing Reinhart with a glove save. Moments earlier, an off-balance Verhaeghe had hopped on Vladar's back. The goalie fell backward and recovered in time to make the glove save.

On that play, Vladar appeared to catch the puck with his glove in the net. But the officials ruled that even if the puck crossed the line, there would be no score due to goalie interference on Verhaeghe.

Less than 30 seconds after that was sorted out, Reinhart had a breakaway and Vladar again made the save.

The Panthers finally made it 2-0 with just 36 seconds left in the second. On a 4-on-3 rush, Aaron Ekblad fed the puck on the right wing to Rodrigues, who tried a centering pass. Vladar got his stick on the pass and the puck deflected in behind him.

On the rush again for Florida, Samoskevich made it 3-0 on a nice move with 3:52 remaining in the third. Bennett earned the primary assist, his second helper of the game.

--Field Level Media