After giving fans a mild cardiac event eliminating the Carolina Hurricanes, the Rangers are moving on to face the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final. In goal, the Cats will have a former Vezina Trophy winner (and current Vezina Trophy finalist). As always, let’s dive into a full Sergei Bobrovsky goaltending style review.
The Rangers have seen quite a bit of Bobrovsky over the years, beginning with his time in Philly before being traded to Columbus in 2012. He is currently in the fifth year of a massive 7-year/$70m free agent contract he signed with the Panthers prior to the 2019-2020 season.
It’s been an uneven ride in Florida, with Bobrovsky oscillating between superstar and backup over the course of the contract. With Spencer Knight participating in the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program for the majority of the season, it has been Bobrovsky’s show from the jump in Sunrise this year, and he responded with his best season as a Panther.
So, now that we know the Blueshirts will be facing “good” Bobrovsky, let’s unpack a full Sergei Bobrovsky goaltending style analysis, reviewing the 35-year-old Russian’s game and see what the Rangers will have to overcome to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2015.
Stance
Bobrovsky has a somewhat unique stance; an ultra-wide set with his elbows pinned against his ribs to close down the 6 and 7 holes under his gloves. His posture is aggressive, centering his weight forward on the balls of his feet, with his chest angled slightly downward. His focus is on centering his weight for lateral explosiveness, with less emphasis on maximizing visual coverage. He is always in a position to be athletic.
Crease Movement/Depth
The first thing to notice in our Sergei Bobrovsky goaltending style review is he’s the polar opposite of Frederik Andersen. Bob is an extraordinarily athletic goaltender, even as he enters his mid-30s. His skating is a strength, and his mobility around the crease, especially laterally, is unquestionably elite.
As we’ve seen from the highlight reels, Bobrovsky is capable of making absolutely superhuman saves. His explosive lateral movement (especially to the blocker side) can quickly turn high-danger chances into frustrating misses. He is a battler of the highest order and has the innate mobility to stay with a play long after many goaltenders would have abandoned all hope.
From a technical standpoint, Bobrovsky is very technically capable, but not technically sound, if that makes sense. He moves around the crease and sets for perimeter shots very skillfully and has a solid reverse VH practice.
However, once he starts engaging with low-zone plays and lateral passes, he allows his athleticism to take over and abandons his technical foundation. As it has been his whole career, he lacks technical discipline once he starts moving. If you’re skimming this Sergei Bobrovsky goaltending style review for a weakness, this is it.
In that same vein, Bob has a little more Jonathan Quick in his style than he would probably like to admit. He has a tendency to lift his pads off the ice in tight save executions, opening up space along the ice and through the five-hole. It’s a pure reaction instinct that doesn’t always provide the best results.
His depth is about average, which is oddly boring considering the rest of his uber-athletic style. There is a theme with this Sergei Bobrovsky goaltending style review, as if you make him move, he becomes much more beatable.
Performance
As I mentioned in the intro, this has been Bobrovsky’s best season as a Panther, but he hasn’t exactly set a sky-high bar. By traditional metrics, he put up a 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage. Under the hood of the analytics, the numbers paint a more flattering picture.
His 15.6 goals saved above expected was good for fourth in the league, which counterintuitively was largely built on low and medium danger save percentages and top-five rebound control.
The strange wrinkle in his performance was his bottom-5 performance on high-danger chances, both in save percentage and expected save percentage. Given his propensity for highlight reel saves, the assumption would be that he excels at high-danger opportunities when in reality, his performance would dictate the opposite.
His performance shorthanded supports this. Bobrovsky was slightly below overage on the PK this year, where high-danger chances are more prominent.
From a location perspective, the five-hole and high-glove side were his most vulnerable areas during the regular season, with high glove continuing into the postseason.
Equipment
On the gear side, Bobrovsky uses True HRZDUS PX4 goalie pads. As I mentioned in the Andersen style analysis, back in 2021, legendary goalie equipment company Lefevre (who previously manufactured KOHO, Reebok, and CCM goalie equipment) partnered with True to create the line for the brand. Many previous Reebok/CCM users subsequently switched over to True.
The choice of the PX4 is another surprising aspect of Bobrovsky’s game. The PX4 is a more blocking-oriented pad (think Hellebuyck), but other highly athletic goalies like Semyon Varlamov and Marc-Andre Fleury also wear this line.
Sergei Bobrovsky goaltending style – Exploitable Weaknesses
This section has always been one of the toughest to assess in these analyses, but not this time. Picture the Bart Simpson chalkboard in the opening credits just reading “HIGH-DANGER CHANCES” over and over again.
Throwing pucks at the net from the perimeter isn’t going to help. Looking for rebounds probably isn’t the answer. It’s all about getting Bobrovsky to overcommit on high-danger chances, especially side-to-side. He will probably make some ridiculous saves along the way, but the more chances to allow Bobrovsky to take himself out of position, the better.
This is where puck movement on the powerplay will be huge. Given Bobrovsky’s performance on the penalty kill, his limited success in high-danger chances (these playoffs notwithstanding), and his tendency to over-move his mark, the Rangers have a real opportunity with the man advantage.
The other main area for emphasis will be off the rush. These chances create similar royal road-crossing opportunities to get Bobrovsky moving. He has allowed a significant number of goals against the grain so far in the playoffs (34% of all goals allowed), which is consistent with his movement issues.
Conclusion
While the Rangers will always have the goaltending advantage in any series they face in these playoffs, Bobrovsky is the first opponent they have encountered who has the ability to truly steal a series (to the extent the Panthers need someone to steal one). The Rangers need to play a meticulous game designed to minimize his strengths and exploit his weaknesses.
Again, the theme to this Sergei Bobrovsky goaltending style review is to get Bobrovsky moving and emphasize his technical deficiencies, they should swing the series and bring forth the more problematic “Playoff Bob” of years past.
If they let him get into a groove and fail to penetrate the middle of the ice with lateral plays and screens, he is more than capable of slamming the door on the Rangers’ offense.
Ultimately, it will come down to how well the Rangers execute their game plan. The opportunity is there; they need to seize it.
(All stats via Evolving-Hockey, MoneyPuck and NHL.com)
