Barkov is a Selke Trophy finalist for the third time in four seasons, including winning the award in 2020-21, for plays like that and more. He led Florida’s forwards playing 22:52 on Friday, had three shots on goal and two blocks. None more important than Pastrnak’s.
Maurice talked about the rollercoaster of emotions that began with seeing the puck heading toward Pastrnak with plenty of net to shoot, the elation of seeing Barkov block the shot, and then the immediate concern that Barkov might get injured when he went down the field. locker room after returning to the bench.
“You want to talk about the ups and downs of emotions on the bench,” Maurice said. “That’s an open network and a legitimate block. And then, ‘Oh my God, did he break something?’ He’s on the bench and you can’t hear anything. Then, at that moment, he makes the block and we end up scoring the goal, there’s a little bit of chaos down there… And here he comes back and then it’s fine.”
Barkov said he was fine afterward and, typically, humbly downplayed his block, one of 23 the Panthers made in the game.
“I think any blocked shot in the playoffs, especially, is big,” he said. “So our guys sacrifice everything for that. It’s fun to watch and be a part of this team.”
The Panthers had other heroes in the victory. Forsling scored the winning goal. Lundell scored the goal that tied the score 1-1 at 12:44 of the second and set up Forsling, the winner. Bobrovsky made 22 saves, several of them on high-danger occasions, including Pastrnak’s breakaway 22 seconds into the second half.
But it’s clear that Florida is following Barkov’s lead as it attempts to become the first team to return to the Stanley Cup Final after losing last season since the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals. the 2008 Cup and defeated the Red Wings. in 2009 to win the Cup.
“It does a lot of things that most people don’t see,” Bobrovsky said. “He’s very professional and he’s an elite player, not only offensively, but also defensively in the way he reads the game. He probably has the highest IQ in hockey.”
If Florida, which lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Cup final last season, wins the Cup for the first time, Barkov will likely leave his fingerprints on it all, too.
“The man is a powerful and dominant man,” Maurice said. “He now plays a different game than he’s ever played. He was very good on both ends, so hopefully he’ll be the one.”
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