EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) 鈥� Paul Maurice had seen enough after allowed his fifth goal in , deciding to pull the Florida Panthers goaltender who was the biggest reason the team is one win from a championship.
Bobrovsky allowed five on 16 shots, and his coach thought it was high time to give him a rest and put backup Anthony Stolarz in five minutes into the second period. Stolarz allowed three more in the to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night that sends the series back to Florida for Game 5.
鈥淚f you think you鈥檙e mounting a comeback, rarely does the goalie make a difference for you: There鈥檚 something that happens at the other end of the ice,鈥� Maurice said. "He鈥檚 played an awful lot of hockey. My number on Bob鈥檚 probably five (goals allowed) in general. That was the decision.鈥�
Bobrovsky had stopped 82 of the 86 shots he faced through the first three games of the final and is, along with captain Aleksander Barkov, a leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He allowed more goals in 25 minutes of this one than the rest of the series combined, leading to derisive taunts of 鈥淪ergei! Sergei!鈥� from the home crowd.
鈥淓veryone is human,鈥� Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. 鈥淵ou have to keep going, have to keep getting your looks and eventually something is going to go in. Obviously we got good looks tonight and were able to beat him.鈥�
Bobrovsky was not at his best, but neither were the Panthers players in front of him. Mattias Janmark's short-handed goal three minutes in came on a 2-on-1 rush, and there were plenty of other mistakes that contributed to giving Edmonton so many good looks that they cashed in on.
It was not great 鈥楤ob,鈥� but teammates were quick to take the blame off Bobrovsky for getting the hook.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been unbelievable all year, all playoffs,鈥� forward Matthew Tkachuk said. 鈥淚t was more of a wake-up call to everybody. We know he鈥檚 going to come back better than ever and, with that being said, none of them were his fault. I still thought he made some unreal saves.鈥�
Stolarz, who coincidentally was taken with the 2012 second-round pick Philadelphia got for trading Bobrovsky more than a decade ago, made 16 saves in his NHL playoff debut.
鈥淗e was good,鈥� Maurice said. "The guy鈥檚 watched a lot of hockey for a while. That鈥檚 what you need. He comes in and he鈥檚 going to battle his butt off. It was great for him to get in. There are not a lot of silver linings here, people, but 鈥楤ob鈥� got some rest. I鈥檒l take that.鈥�
There's very little rest to come for the Panthers, who have another chance to close out the series and hoist the Stanley Cup in Game 5 back in Sunrise on Tuesday night.
鈥淭here鈥檚 many things we can do a lot better," Barkov said. 鈥淲e probably got outworked. They got too many rush chances. I think we鈥檝e always been good in defending rushes and I think they got some rush chances that we really need to not give up. But obviously the game鈥檚 over now. All we need to do is just recover and think about the next one.鈥�
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AP NHL playoffs: and
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
