Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers blank Hurricanes close to finals

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made his first career playoff appearance and the Florida Panthers came one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals with a 1-0 victory over Carolina Hurricanes on Monday in Sunrise, Fla

Sam Reinhart scored in the second period Pantherswho lead 3-0 in the best-of-seven series

The goal was quite an attack thanks to another scintillating performance from Bobrovsky, who made 32 saves.

Frederik Andersen stopped 16 shots hurricaneswho have lost 11 straight games in the Eastern Conference Finals and are on the verge of losing their third straight in the Conference Finals

THE Pantherswho have reached the Stanley Cup Finals once in franchise history (1996), will look to sweep when they play host hurricanes for Game 4 on Wednesday

Bobrovsky was a brick wall in every series, stopping 132 of 135 shots in the three games. He showed his form early with a glove save on Stefan Noesen’s breakaway opportunity, saved Sebastian Aho with a huge blocking save early in the second period, and saved a Seth Jarvis redirection with a clutch pad late in the middle period. He stopped 11 shots in the one-sided third as his team held onto the lead.

THE hurricanes a few shots were fired from the iron

Bobrovsky’s save total is the most ever through the first three games of a conference final or Stanley Cup semifinal, breaking the mark of 125 set by Johnny Bower for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1960.

THE hurricanes it was all momentum in the first half of the second period, but Reinhart opened the scoring at 10:05. When Florida went on the power play, Reinhart stepped into the slot, took a short pass, spun and zipped inside the far post for his seventh goal of the playoffs.

Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett assisted in the tally.

However, the victory came at a price. Panthers Captain Aleksander Barkov left the game midway through the first period after receiving a check from Jack Drury. It looked like an innocuous hit along the boards, but Barkov suffered a lower-body injury

Barkov collected four goals and 12 points in 15 playoff games.

— Field Level Media